R
Ron M.
1. I'm running the printer, a brand new HP6540, with the Ambicon
Wireless Kit. You can see it at:
http://www.ambicom.com/products/wp-kit/wp-kit.html
The adaptor is in the back USB port of the printer, and is connected to
an AC power source. The other part plugs into the USB port of the
computer.
I KNOW this printer isn't on the list of "compatible printers" but that
list is about 6 months old and is very incomplete. This printer should
work fine.
2. The very latest drivers for this printer have been downloaded and
installed from the HP site.
3. When printing from a new Dell Inspiron 1150 notebook with XP HE
w/SP2 & 512MB RAM, it works flawlessly, even from outside the house.
Never fails. Beatiful. Wonderful. Love it.
4. The problem is printing from the other computer. This is a Compaq
Presario 5BW130 made in late 2001, with a 667MHz Celeron, 512MB RAM,
running XP Pro w/SP1. It has USB ports in the back, and 2 in front for
conveniently plugging in digital cameras and such, which always works
just fine. I have NEVER had a USB problem on this computer.
What happens is that printing from this computer is very erratic. It
will print several documents in a row, and then stop, and the printer
goes "offline" and the jobs just sit in the queue until I reboot. Last
night, for example, I opened MSWord, printed a few pages just fine,
then closed Word and went to the web, and tried to print out a text web
page.
The little window showing the ink levels, print job status, etc. popped
open, but nothing happened. No lights flash on the printer. I go to the
Windows "printers and faxes" window and the printer's icon is dimmed,
indicating it is "offline."
Even when I set it back to "online," nothing happens. If I try to print
something, a little window opens in
the lower right corner saying, "this document failed to print."
I open the printer's window and all the jobs are listed in a queue. I
have to just delete them.
It will NOT print ANYTHING until I shut down the computer (not restart)
completely and reboot. Then, it might print several pages, or none at
all. Or maybe it'll print fine in one program, and stop when you go to
something else. It's hard to predict exactly what will happen.
Usually, after bootup, I can print just fine from Word, but when I go
to the web and surf around a few minutes and then try to print
something, it goes dead. One surefire way of causing this problem to
happen is to web surf for a couple of minutes and then try to print
something.
5. The Compaq is 6 feet from the printer, and the Ambicom devices are
line-of-sight with each other. The problem occurs regardless of which
USB port you plug into. The keyboard and mouse are in two of the rear
ports.
6. The page filing is set to 576 MB. I've tried various options in the
printer settings. No luck.
7. If I leave the print jobs sitting in the queue and cold-restart,
they all print when the computer boots back up.
I wonder if upgrading the Compaq to SP2 would fix it. I've heard some
horror stories about installing SP2 in older computers, though, and I'm
really not interested in its security features. I'll do what I have to
do, though.
I also considered that it might be a USB version conflict. The
computer's obviously an old USB 1.1, while the printer is 2.0. But that
shouldn't matter, should it? If that was the problem, it seems like it
wouldn't print at all.
I'd be profoundly grateful for any advice or diagnoses.
Ron M.
Wireless Kit. You can see it at:
http://www.ambicom.com/products/wp-kit/wp-kit.html
The adaptor is in the back USB port of the printer, and is connected to
an AC power source. The other part plugs into the USB port of the
computer.
I KNOW this printer isn't on the list of "compatible printers" but that
list is about 6 months old and is very incomplete. This printer should
work fine.
2. The very latest drivers for this printer have been downloaded and
installed from the HP site.
3. When printing from a new Dell Inspiron 1150 notebook with XP HE
w/SP2 & 512MB RAM, it works flawlessly, even from outside the house.
Never fails. Beatiful. Wonderful. Love it.
4. The problem is printing from the other computer. This is a Compaq
Presario 5BW130 made in late 2001, with a 667MHz Celeron, 512MB RAM,
running XP Pro w/SP1. It has USB ports in the back, and 2 in front for
conveniently plugging in digital cameras and such, which always works
just fine. I have NEVER had a USB problem on this computer.
What happens is that printing from this computer is very erratic. It
will print several documents in a row, and then stop, and the printer
goes "offline" and the jobs just sit in the queue until I reboot. Last
night, for example, I opened MSWord, printed a few pages just fine,
then closed Word and went to the web, and tried to print out a text web
page.
The little window showing the ink levels, print job status, etc. popped
open, but nothing happened. No lights flash on the printer. I go to the
Windows "printers and faxes" window and the printer's icon is dimmed,
indicating it is "offline."
Even when I set it back to "online," nothing happens. If I try to print
something, a little window opens in
the lower right corner saying, "this document failed to print."
I open the printer's window and all the jobs are listed in a queue. I
have to just delete them.
It will NOT print ANYTHING until I shut down the computer (not restart)
completely and reboot. Then, it might print several pages, or none at
all. Or maybe it'll print fine in one program, and stop when you go to
something else. It's hard to predict exactly what will happen.
Usually, after bootup, I can print just fine from Word, but when I go
to the web and surf around a few minutes and then try to print
something, it goes dead. One surefire way of causing this problem to
happen is to web surf for a couple of minutes and then try to print
something.
5. The Compaq is 6 feet from the printer, and the Ambicom devices are
line-of-sight with each other. The problem occurs regardless of which
USB port you plug into. The keyboard and mouse are in two of the rear
ports.
6. The page filing is set to 576 MB. I've tried various options in the
printer settings. No luck.
7. If I leave the print jobs sitting in the queue and cold-restart,
they all print when the computer boots back up.
I wonder if upgrading the Compaq to SP2 would fix it. I've heard some
horror stories about installing SP2 in older computers, though, and I'm
really not interested in its security features. I'll do what I have to
do, though.
I also considered that it might be a USB version conflict. The
computer's obviously an old USB 1.1, while the printer is 2.0. But that
shouldn't matter, should it? If that was the problem, it seems like it
wouldn't print at all.
I'd be profoundly grateful for any advice or diagnoses.
Ron M.