Printing using 100% CPU

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charles P. Lamb
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Charles P. Lamb

Why is XP such a CPU hog when printing through a parallel port? Is it using
polling instead of being interrupt driven? Is there anyway around this?

Thanks,

Charles P. Lamb
 
Charles P. Lamb said:
Why is XP such a CPU hog when printing through a parallel port? Is it
using polling instead of being interrupt driven? Is there anyway around
this?

Thanks,

Charles P. Lamb
Click to expand...
If it is using Programmed IO rather than DMA, it is most likely that the
port driver has regressed to PIO mode as a result of excessive errors. Once
the threshold (whatever it is), the driver never goes back to DMA. I would
suspect that the fix for this problem for disk drivers would also apply to
the parallel port.
Jim
 
Charles said:
Why is XP such a CPU hog when printing through a parallel port? Is
it using polling instead of being interrupt driven? Is there
anyway around this?
Click to expand...

I cannot say I have seen this issue - so I have nothing to compare it to.
Is the printer just too old to use USB?

I still have a few relics I have to support that connect via parallel - but
with the correct drivers from the correct manufacturer - I have had no
issues like the one you describe.
 
What is the fix for this problem for disk drivers? Is there an error
counter I can check? It is an Epson 1270 although I've noticed this with
other printers as well. It is the "System" process which is using all the
CPU.
 
It would be part of the motherboard utilities package, so look on the
website of the motherboard manufacturer.

Remember also that the PC is now very much faster than it was when the
parallel port came into existance.... so printing a complex document through
the parallel port goes through a tight bottleneck. Your CPU can send the
data really quickly, but if it gets stuck going through the port at snail
speed, there is nothing much your CPU can do except sit and wait. The
obvious solution is to purchase a USB 2.0 printer.
 
I was just thinking how wonderful life was, when "Charles P. Lamb"
Why is XP such a CPU hog when printing through a parallel port? Is it using
polling instead of being interrupt driven? Is there anyway around this?
Click to expand...

It depends on the printer driver and settings. Get the latest driver
is you haven't already.

I could not fix this using an Epson 750 photo printer...I had to
change the printer.

--
Cheers,

Guy

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.
 
Charles/Ted: forgive me for butting in... but I believe he is looking at
the
Performance Tab on task manager and Ted you possibly are looking at the
processes tab.

The performance tab shows cpu usage as a %.

My XP home edition (sp2 current updates) when sitting with OE and IE
windows open shows 2-3% cpu usage.
Sounds like he has something odd going on or a misbehaved app.

Charles: If this just started: anything recent you can uninstall try a
restore point from a couple or so weeks ago?
I'm no expert on his! That's just what I"d do.

Regards to all,
Dallas...


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