Is this the right group to post about printing problems?

[Dave Rado]

The printing_faxes newsgroup doesn't seem to be used any more. Is this
the best newsgroup to post to? If not please could someone point me to
a better one? I'm using XP and before I go into detail (quite
involved) I though I'd better check I'm posting in the best group for
this.

Also, has msnews.microsoft.com been got rid of? I much preferred
posting there than via Google groups but OE says "unable to connect to
server" when I try to access the Microsoft groups that way. If it's
been got rid of, has it been replaced with a different address or is
there no longer any newsreader support?

My ISP doesn't offer newsreader support so the only way I can access
newsgroups via my newsreader is by going direct to the relevant news
server, if there is one.

Anyway, the more important question is whether this is the right
newsgroup in which to post my printing problems.

 

[Tim Meddick]

I wouldn't bother too much whether or not you're posting to the "exact"
right group...

if I see a question posted here I try to answer it, rather than waste
precious time, in this oh-so-short life of ours, to "pontificate" about
posting to the "right" group" !!

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Ken Springer]

Also, has msnews.microsoft.com been got rid of? I much preferred
posting there than via Google groups but OE says "unable to connect to
server" when I try to access the Microsoft groups that way. If it's
been got rid of, has it been replaced with a different address or is
there no longer any newsreader support?

You won't get to any MS newsgroups via MS anymore. :-(

Go to news.eternal-september.org and sign up with them. Then you can
access the old MS newsgroups.

That's how I'm doing it.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 8.0.1
Thunderbird 8.0.1
LibreOffice 3.3.4

 

[David H. Lipman]

The printing_faxes newsgroup doesn't seem to be used any more. Is this
the best newsgroup to post to? If not please could someone point me to
a better one? I'm using XP and before I go into detail (quite
involved) I though I'd better check I'm posting in the best group for
this.

Also, has msnews.microsoft.com been got rid of? I much preferred
posting there than via Google groups but OE says "unable to connect to
server" when I try to access the Microsoft groups that way. If it's
been got rid of, has it been replaced with a different address or is
there no longer any newsreader support?

My ISP doesn't offer newsreader support so the only way I can access
newsgroups via my newsreader is by going direct to the relevant news
server, if there is one.

Anyway, the more important question is whether this is the right
newsgroup in which to post my printing problems.

I'm glad you asked because posting On Topic is important contrary to what others might
tell you.

You don't ask questions about a Ford pickup at a Chevy dealer even if they both
manufacturer cars and trucks.

If this is about printing with WinXP or specifically using the WinXP FAX Service then what
you want is completely "On Topic" here.

The following is a Free news service of course you can also use a paid-for service like I
do.

news://nntp.aioe.org/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general

 

[Dave Rado]

I wouldn't bother too much whether or not you're posting to the "exact"
right group...

Okay, thanks.

I'm using Windows XP.

I have an HP LaserJet 4P attached to my parallel printer port (LPT1)
and an Epson Photo R360 attached to a USB port.

Yesterday I was printing fine to both printers when all of a sudden
both drivers decided that the printers were offline.

First I tried printing to the HP LaserJet, and *immediately* (without
even trying to spool the job) the printer icon appeared in my task bar
with a red question mark against it; and when I opened the window, the
title bar said "Use Printer Offline". When I turned off "Use Printer
offline" using the Printer menu, it said "Error printing" under
"Status".

Then I opened the "Printing preferences" for the Epson R360 and the
ink levels were greyed out; and if I tried printing to the Epson I got
the same question mark in the task bar and "Error printing" under
"Status" in the printer window.

Rebooting my PC and even running Restore made no difference and nor
did uninstalling and reinstalling the printer drivers. And yes, I
checked the printer cables.

This morning the Epson was suddenly working again, but the HP was
still being treated as being offline even though it was online. But
this evening, the Epson has stopped being recognised as being online
again, so again I don't have access to either printer.

One other thing. I read somewhere in the KB that I could test LPT1 by
typing "copy con LPT1" at the command prompt and pressing <Enter>,
When I did this, I just got a flashing cursor forever.

HELP!

Dave

 

[Dave Rado]

You won't get to any MS newsgroups via MS anymore.  :-(

Go to news.eternal-september.org and sign up with them.  Then you can
access the old MS newsgroups.

That's how I'm doing it.  

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 8.0.1
Thunderbird 8.0.1
LibreOffice 3.3.4

Thanks, I've registered but am still waiting for them to email me a
username and password ...

 

[Dave Rado]

You won't get to any MS newsgroups via MS anymore.  :-(

Go to news.eternal-september.org and sign up with them.  Then you can
access the old MS newsgroups.

That's how I'm doing it.  

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 8.0.1
Thunderbird 8.0.1
LibreOffice 3.3.4

Thanks, I've registered but am still waiting for them to email me a
username and password ...

 

[Dave Rado]

In addition to my previous posts I should have mentioned that even
printing from Notepad produces exactly the same symptoms.

 

[David H. Lipman]

Thanks, I've registered but am still waiting for them to email me a
username and password ...

Register ?

I didn't "register" with AIOE and here I am.

 

[Tim Meddick]

If one or other of the printers is working intermittently, then I would
tend to put that down to a failing piece of equipment (which includes a
fractured printer cable).

Try swapping round the printer cables (if they're both of the same type) to
see if that makes a difference.

If the equipment is functioning properly,then there's no reason in the
world why [they] shouldn't work as they did before if you completely
uninstall them, rebooting after each "uninstall" (I know it's long-winded
but necessary), then re-installing their drivers from their respective
installation disks. The re-install will also probably necessitate
reboot as well.

Be very careful to follow the [respective] installation instructions as to
exactly when the printer is to be connected - some don't want you to
connect the printer until the software is completely installed, with
others, this is not the case.

As to the advice you were given regarding "copy con: LPT1" - what happens
here is, after you issue that command, you're supposed to type something,
then after you're finished, you are supposed press [F6] to enter the ^Z
character, then press [ENTER] and whatever you have typed gets sent to the
printer.

You could also test this method with ; "type x:\somepath\myfile.txt > LPT1"
which would do essentially the same thing, but with an existing text file
(replace "x:\somepath\myfile.txt" with a valid path / filename of an
existing text file).

However, for the above to work, you have to have your LPT1 port configured
correctly, and for most computers using a USB connection, it will not be
correctly configured.

=

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

I wouldn't bother too much whether or not you're posting to the "exact"
right group...

Okay, thanks.

I'm using Windows XP.

I have an HP LaserJet 4P attached to my parallel printer port (LPT1)
and an Epson Photo R360 attached to a USB port.

Yesterday I was printing fine to both printers when all of a sudden
both drivers decided that the printers were offline.

First I tried printing to the HP LaserJet, and *immediately* (without
even trying to spool the job) the printer icon appeared in my task bar
with a red question mark against it; and when I opened the window, the
title bar said "Use Printer Offline". When I turned off "Use Printer
offline" using the Printer menu, it said "Error printing" under
"Status".

Then I opened the "Printing preferences" for the Epson R360 and the
ink levels were greyed out; and if I tried printing to the Epson I got
the same question mark in the task bar and "Error printing" under
"Status" in the printer window.

Rebooting my PC and even running Restore made no difference and nor
did uninstalling and reinstalling the printer drivers. And yes, I
checked the printer cables.

This morning the Epson was suddenly working again, but the HP was
still being treated as being offline even though it was online. But
this evening, the Epson has stopped being recognised as being online
again, so again I don't have access to either printer.

One other thing. I read somewhere in the KB that I could test LPT1 by
typing "copy con LPT1" at the command prompt and pressing <Enter>,
When I did this, I just got a flashing cursor forever.

HELP!

Dave

 

[Dave Rado]

Hi Tim - comments inline.

| If one or other of the printers is working intermittently, then I would
| tend to put that down to a failing piece of equipment (which includes a
| fractured printer cable).


Both printers started having the problem at exactly the same time as each
other which would be too much of a coincidence if it were the printers or
the cables rather than my PC that were the cause of the problem.


| Try swapping round the printer cables (if they're both of the same type)
| to see if that makes a difference.

As I posted originally, I have an HP LaserJet 4P attached to my parallel
printer port (LPT1)
and an Epson Photo R360 attached to a USB port. So the cables could hardly
be more different.


| If the equipment is functioning properly,then there's no reason in the
| world why [they] shouldn't work as they did before

*Should* be no reason in the world but there is. This is a more esoteric
problem than meets the eye.


| if you completely
| uninstall them, rebooting after each "uninstall" (I know it's long-winded
| but necessary), then re-installing their drivers from their respective
| installation disks. The re-install will also probably necessitate
| reboot as well.

The HP LaserJet 4P is not plug and play, you install the driver manually.
You don't install the driver from an installation disk, you select it from a
list and it gets copied over from wherever Windows stores its preconfigured
driver files. But wherever it is copying the driver from is effectively a
driver disk that happens to be stored on your hard disk, so it comes to the
same thing. Rebooting made no difference.


| Be very careful to follow the [respective] installation instructions as to
| exactly when the printer is to be connected - some don't want you to
| connect the printer until the software is completely installed, with
| others, this is not the case.

The HP is not plug and play.

The Epson is currently working okay so no point doing anything to its driver
until it stops again.


| As to the advice you were given regarding "copy con: LPT1" - what happens
| here is, after you issue that command, you're supposed to type something,
| then after you're finished, you are supposed press [F6] to enter the ^Z
| character, then press [ENTER] and whatever you have typed gets sent to the
| printer.

I get a message saying "the system cannot find the file specified".


| You could also test this method with ; "type x:\somepath\myfile.txt >
LPT1"

I get a message saying "the system cannot find the file specified".


| However, for the above to work, you have to have your LPT1 port configured
| correctly, and for most computers using a USB connection, it will not be
| correctly configured.

Even though I have a centronics parallel printer port to which the printer
is attached?

Dave

 

[Dave Rado]

| I didn't "register" with AIOE and here I am.

I thought we were talking about eternal.september.org. Anyway, I'm
registered with them now.

Dave

 

[Dave Rado]

|| I didn't "register" with AIOE and here I am.
|
| I thought we were talking about eternal.september.org. Anyway, I'm
| registered with them now.
|

I should have added - thanks for the tip, much appreciated.

Dave|

 

[Mayayana]

|| I didn't "register" with AIOE and here I am.
|
| I thought we were talking about eternal.september.org. Anyway, I'm
| registered with them now.
|

Both are well-regarded, both are free, both still
mirror the msnews groups, and both are far better
than going through webpage media like google groups.

Microsoft has shut down their own msnews servers,
but the groups will exist as long as servers mirror them.
Last I heard, eternal-september intended to keep all
groups open so long as they're being used. There's less
traffic than there used to be, though. I monitor 6-8
programming and scripting groups. All of them have far
less traffic now than they used to. I guess that's partly
because a lot of people just don't know about usenet
these days. But it's also because, ror the most
part, MVPs and others who want to make a good impression
on the Microsoft management have dutifully moved
out of the newsgroups and now take part in the Microsoft
online groups, which are private, webpage-based, moderated
discussion groups:

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/categories
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/categories/
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/categories/

Unfortunately, MS seems to be trying to discourage
open tech. discussion and criticism. Their groups are
little more than marketing outlets at this point, moderated
by MS employees. Many of the groups that exist on
msnews don't even have corollaries on the web groups.
And of course the new groups share the problem of all
web-based forums: Webpages were simply not designed
for discussions. Usenet and newsreader software are.

On the bright side, so to speak, if you use the MS web
forums you can get awarded anywhere from 1 to 5 "medal"
icons that display next to your name. There's a social
hierarchy of goody-goodiness, in other words, that awards
people who celebrate Microsoft products and who help to
carry out Microsoft tech. support and marketing without
being paid for it. Since usenet is text-only, no one gets
to be a 5-star lackey here.

 

[Dave Rado]

Hi Mayayana

||| I didn't "register" with AIOE and here I am.
||
|| I thought we were talking about eternal.september.org. Anyway, I'm
|| registered with them now.
||
|
| Both are well-regarded, both are free, both still
| mirror the msnews groups, and both are far better
| than going through webpage media like google groups.
|
| Microsoft has shut down their own msnews servers,
| but the groups will exist as long as servers mirror them.
| Last I heard, eternal-september intended to keep all
| groups open so long as they're being used. There's less
| traffic than there used to be, though. I monitor 6-8
| programming and scripting groups. All of them have far
| less traffic now than they used to. I guess that's partly
| because a lot of people just don't know about usenet
| these days. But it's also because, ror the most
| part, MVPs and others who want to make a good impression
| on the Microsoft management have dutifully moved
| out of the newsgroups and now take part in the Microsoft
| online groups, which are private, webpage-based, moderated
| discussion groups:
|
| http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/categories
| http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/categories/
| http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/categories/
|
| Unfortunately, MS seems to be trying to discourage
| open tech. discussion and criticism. Their groups are
| little more than marketing outlets at this point, moderated
| by MS employees. Many of the groups that exist on
| msnews don't even have corollaries on the web groups.
| And of course the new groups share the problem of all
| web-based forums: Webpages were simply not designed
| for discussions. Usenet and newsreader software are.
|
| On the bright side, so to speak, if you use the MS web
| forums you can get awarded anywhere from 1 to 5 "medal"
| icons that display next to your name. There's a social
| hierarchy of goody-goodiness, in other words, that awards
| people who celebrate Microsoft products and who help to
| carry out Microsoft tech. support and marketing without
| being paid for it. Since usenet is text-only, no one gets
| to be a 5-star lackey here.




Thanks for that insight. Does that mean that none of the MVPs post here any
more?

Dave

 

[Dave Rado]

One other thing: I read somewhere that "LPT1" should be listed under the
category "Ports" in Device Manager, and that I should be able to uninstall
it and reboot, which would cause it to be detected and reinstalled. However,
there is no "Ports" category in my Device Manager, and no mention anywhere
of LPT1.

Dave



| Hi Tim - comments inline.
|
| || If one or other of the printers is working intermittently, then I would
|| tend to put that down to a failing piece of equipment (which includes a
|| fractured printer cable).
|
|
| Both printers started having the problem at exactly the same time as each
| other which would be too much of a coincidence if it were the printers or
| the cables rather than my PC that were the cause of the problem.
|
|
|| Try swapping round the printer cables (if they're both of the same type)
|| to see if that makes a difference.
|
| As I posted originally, I have an HP LaserJet 4P attached to my parallel
| printer port (LPT1)
| and an Epson Photo R360 attached to a USB port. So the cables could hardly
| be more different.
|
|
|| If the equipment is functioning properly,then there's no reason in the
|| world why [they] shouldn't work as they did before
|
| *Should* be no reason in the world but there is. This is a more esoteric
| problem than meets the eye.
|
|
| | if you completely
|| uninstall them, rebooting after each "uninstall" (I know it's long-winded
|| but necessary), then re-installing their drivers from their respective
|| installation disks. The re-install will also probably necessitate
|| reboot as well.
|
| The HP LaserJet 4P is not plug and play, you install the driver manually.
| You don't install the driver from an installation disk, you select it from
a
| list and it gets copied over from wherever Windows stores its
preconfigured
| driver files. But wherever it is copying the driver from is effectively a
| driver disk that happens to be stored on your hard disk, so it comes to
the
| same thing. Rebooting made no difference.
|
|
|| Be very careful to follow the [respective] installation instructions as
to
|| exactly when the printer is to be connected - some don't want you to
|| connect the printer until the software is completely installed, with
|| others, this is not the case.
|
| The HP is not plug and play.
|
| The Epson is currently working okay so no point doing anything to its
driver
| until it stops again.
|
|
|| As to the advice you were given regarding "copy con: LPT1" - what happens
|| here is, after you issue that command, you're supposed to type something,
|| then after you're finished, you are supposed press [F6] to enter the ^Z
|| character, then press [ENTER] and whatever you have typed gets sent to
the
|| printer.
|
| I get a message saying "the system cannot find the file specified".
|
|
|| You could also test this method with ; "type x:\somepath\myfile.txt >
| LPT1"
|
| I get a message saying "the system cannot find the file specified".
|
|
|| However, for the above to work, you have to have your LPT1 port
configured
|| correctly, and for most computers using a USB connection, it will not be
|| correctly configured.
|
| Even though I have a centronics parallel printer port to which the printer
| is attached?
|
| Dave
|
|

 

[Tim Slattery]

Thanks for that insight. Does that mean that none of the MVPs post here any
more?

This ex-MVP does. There are a couple of other ex and currents around
also.

 

[David H. Lipman]

One other thing: I read somewhere that "LPT1" should be listed under the
category "Ports" in Device Manager, and that I should be able to uninstall
it and reboot, which would cause it to be detected and reinstalled. However,
there is no "Ports" category in my Device Manager, and no mention anywhere
of LPT1.

Then go into the BIOS settings and make sure that the Serial and Parallel ports are
enabled. If they are disabled in the BIOS then the hardware won't exist for the Operating
System and needs to be re-enabled.

If the Parallel port is enabled and there is still no parallel port available in the OS
then the hardware is bad and you need to seek other methodologies such as...

PCI I/O port card that has a DB25 Parallel port.

USB to Centronics parallel cable adapter such as the Belkin F5U002
http://www.belkin.com/UK/support/download.asp?lang=1&download=F5U002&mode=

Put a Print Server on the printer and print to the printer over TCP/IP such as a HP
JetDirect.

I use print servers all the time, especially HP JetDirect internal and external devices.
I also have a MPI Tech Bluetooth print server which allows computers to print wirelessly
over Bluetooth to a centronics interface printer.

 

[Patok]

One other thing: I read somewhere that "LPT1" should be listed under the
category "Ports" in Device Manager, and that I should be able to uninstall
it and reboot, which would cause it to be detected and reinstalled. However,
there is no "Ports" category in my Device Manager, and no mention anywhere
of LPT1.

You're correct, there is no category "Ports" in Device Manager. It is
in "Printers and Faxes". In Control Panel, open "Printers and Faxes" (so
that it is a separate explorer window where you see a list of the
printers in your system). In the File menu, there is "Server
Properties", where there is a Ports tab, listing all ports in your system.

 

[David H. Lipman]

You're correct, there is no category "Ports" in Device Manager. It is in "Printers
and Faxes". In Control Panel, open "Printers and Faxes" (so that it is a separate
explorer window where you see a list of the printers in your system). In the File menu,
there is "Server Properties", where there is a Ports tab, listing all ports in your
system.

I beg to differ...

http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk/ImageX.jpg

That is unless we are talking about Printer Ports which can be FILE:. USB001:, LPT1:, COM1:,
XPSport:, etc...

Of course the hardware, such as LPT1:, must be working to be used as a "Printer Port".