Panasonic KX-P6500 - won't print in Windows XP - help!

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI All
Can anybody please help me with this problem before the printer goes
out of the window !?

I have a Panasonic KX-P6500 - which I would like to talk to my main pc
- WinXP (sp2).

The supplied drivers only go up to win98 / xp - so I've trawled the
web and found several downloads - none of which work reliably on the
XP box. Typical problems include a complete refusal to print (on the
GDI mode) and corrupted characters in the PCL mode.

Out of curiousity, I installed the printer on my old win95 laptop.
Works fine in GDI & PCL, also allows the XP box to print to the
printer through the ethernet.

Kind of inconvenient to use the laptop as a print server - so
installed a parallel socket on the back of the other desk machine (win
98se) - and installed the printer on there. Local printing is fine.
Printing from the laptop to the win98se machine is fine.

BUT - now the darned XP box won't recognise the printer that's
attached to the win98se box.....

Starting to run out of ideas (& patience!)
No response from Panasonic themselves.

I'd even settle for a 300dpi-only solution - after all - it's only to
let me print out (cheap) bulk notices for our local church - the
inkjet does a great job but costs a fortune in ink to run.....

Ideal situation would be Panasonic printer attached directly to the XP
box - 2nd-best would be networked via the Win98se box......

Any suggestions (apart from 'buy a different printer'!) gratefully
recieved

Many thanks
Adrian
Suffolk UK

 

[Mike Wylde]

I have a KX-P6300 which uses the same package of drivers, I don't know the
exact difference in the printer. I have Panasonic driver ver 1.4 and have no
problems, before or after installing XP SP2. I have only used it in GDI mode
not PCL though.
Do you have that driver?
Mike

 

[Mike Wylde]

PS 1 Have you tried
http://panasonic.co.jp/pcc/products/en/printer/model/mlp/p6500/p6500download.htm
2 This driver seems to be GDI only.
Mike

 

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Mike

Thanks for the reply.
I've tried several installation sets - including

VERSION Special 1.40
DATE 29 Jul. 2003

I see a note in the 'readme' that says there can be problems if the
parallel port is set to ECP - recommends 'Bi-directional' instead.
There's no option for this on my Bios - so I'm just about to try it
with EPP rather than ECP.

The GDI fault that's returned is 'missing cable' - suggesting that the
PC and the Printer aren't talking to each other .....

I'll let you know if this Bios change alters anything..... but don't
hold your breath!

Thanks
Adrian
Suffolk UK

 

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Mike

So far, it seems to be working (he said cautiously).

Successfully printed from Word & PaintShopPro - though when I
tried turning on the 'photo-enhance' feature in the panasonic driver
it then fell in a heap & refused to play again until I'd re-installed
the printer - so I shall not use that 'feature'.......

Still - light-years ahead of where we were - so that's progress <g>

Many thanks for confirming that the Drivers were (more or less) OK in
WinXP - seems as if the printer port settings are a bit critical.....

Thanks
Adrian
Suffolk UK

 

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Mike

I did say 'cautiously'.......

Tried printing several pages from Word and the darn thing fell in a
heap again - claiming that the cable was faulty or the printer was
turned off (neither true).....

Looks as if my combination of PC / Port / Win XP / This printer won't
fly........

Eventually tried installing the beast in PCL mode - and finally told
it that it was a Laserjet II. So far, it's behaving, only in 300dpi
mode - but it's a start.... - and after the 'fun' I've had for the
last couple of days I might just settle for that <g>

Regards
Adrian
Suffolk UK

 

[Mike Wylde]

Adrian
Frankly I'm a bit out of my depth with some of these details and am not sure
of their significance but FWIW in Device Manager my port (LPT1) is set to
ECP, using Ms driver 5.1.2600.0.
In printer properties the port is GDI1 LPT port, and "Enable bidirectional
support" is ticked.
The print processor is WinPrint using RAW data.
I've been very pleased with this printer except for the cost of a new
process unit which made me think of dumping it! But all the manufacturers
indulge in the same racket don't they?
Mike

 

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Mike

At the moment it's working (thinks it's a HP LJII <g>) - but as long
as it stays working that's fine by me.....

I'm probably missing out on all kinds of 'funky' special features -
but it does seem to be printing OK - so I think I'll give the 'proper'
drivers a miss - at least until Panasonic Support give me some better
ideas.

I se what you mean about the process unit - about £99 - £150 based on
a quick Google - but I seem to recall that's about what the drum for
my old LJ II clone cost about 5 years ago....

I think if that's required at some stage I'll just junk the printer -
after all, it did just cost me all of £13.50 on ebay !

I guess that Panasonic are only playing the same game as Epson & the
others play with the cost of Inkjet carts........

Thanks again
Adrian
Suffolk UK

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Can you find a driver for the printer that is set up to work with Win
2000? It may work.

If not, most of the Panasonic laser printers emulate HP or IBM printers.
You may need to make some front panel entries to set it beyond default
values. But look for "in box" drivers in your XP package that might
work. Often Windows provides numerous generic drivers that will work
with HP or IBM standard settings, and these may well work with your
Panasonic printer.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Make sure you have a cable that is fully wired for bi-directional
communications with the printer. Possibly an older one will not be or
will have a damaged pin or something.

Art

 

[Adrian Brentnall]

Hi Art

Thanks for your two messages.

I've managed to get the printer to run reliably by pretending that
it's an HP LJ IID - only runs at 300 dpi - but doesn't fall in a heap
when given really difficult tasks like printing three copies of the
same page <g>

I did check the cable by connecting it to different PCs - there only
seems to be an issue with the XP box.

There's not much you can do from the printer's front panel - three
leds and a reset button <g> - but it does seem to be behaving itself
now....... (famous last words !)

Anyway - it's fine now for what I wanted - which is a cheap
alternative (to inkjet) for producing 'What's on' sheets for our local
Church.

Thanks again
Adrian
Suffolk UK

 

[Oliver Kilian]

Another possible solution

The driver software (from Matsu****a's website) installs a link to "Printer Console" on your Start menu. Open that program. Turn on the printer and let it warm up. Then look for "local printer change" under the dropdown menus and click "search". Once your printer has been found, click OK and minimize (don't close) the Printer Console. You should now have access to all the printer's advanced features including toner saving and its thoroughly decent 600dpi print capability.

Took me two days of screwing around on my new XP machine to figure out what Matsu****a could have simply explained to me.