Win XP won't print bi-directionally

[Jerry Rivers]

I have a dual-boot system with Win 98 SE and a clean install
of Win XP Pro. I have an HP 1220C inkjet printer which prints
just fine on both 98 and XP but I cannot get the "toolbox"
utility software that comes with the printer to work with XP.

The HP Toolbox, among other things, interrogates my printer
and reports how much ink is left in the cartidges, which is
very useful.

But, in Win XP, the Toolbox says it cannot monitor LPT1
because it is not bi-directional.

The first thing I checked was my BIOS. LPT1 is set to EPP+ECP
which is right for bi-directional operations. And, Win 98 SE
recognizes this and the HP Toolbox works as expected.

But, in Win XP, when I go to Control Panel>Printers and check
the Properties for my HP 1220C on LPT1, the check box for bi-
direction communication is greyed out and cannot be selected.

I have also checked System>Device Manager, which reports my
parallel port is running fine.

I do not understand why Win 98 recognizes my parallel port as
bi-directional and Win XP does not. And, I don't know what to
do to fix this. I can find no errors anywhere in Win XP, I
just can un-grey the checkbox I need to turn on bi-
directional printing.

I have not found anything yet in MS KB or by Googling.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

-- Jerry Rivers

 

[Joseph Meehan]

I believe you may have one of two problems. First you may have lost the
original drivers for your printer, worse yet, there may not be any good ones
for XP. I suggest you check with HP to see if they have a XP compatible
driver.

Next I believe XP handles ports different than 98. That could be a
killer. However someone may have a work a round if that is the case.

Is this a DOS program that is doing the printing?

 

[Jerry Rivers]

Joe, I *have* the latest HP printer driver and it *is*
specifically for Win XP. I am *not* using DOS to print, just
Windows apps.

JR

 

[noone]

I know that XP does not want to use an interrupt on the printer port, but
it should still do ECP right. Try changing the BIOS to just ECP, not
EPP+ECP.

FWIW, I have an HP inkjet (HP-932C) and the toolbox works fine. My
parallel port is set for ECP.

 

[Jerry Rivers]

(e-mail address removed) wrote in

I know that XP does not want to use an interrupt on the
printer port, but it should still do ECP right. Try
changing the BIOS to just ECP, not EPP+ECP.

FWIW, I have an HP inkjet (HP-932C) and the toolbox works
fine. My parallel port is set for ECP.

I've about given up on this one!

In my BIOS, I've tried EPP, ECP, and ECP+EPP (which is supposed
to be the best, or so I've been told). None of these will make
XP recognize LPT1 as bi-directional, but *all* of these settings
work correctly with 98.

JR

 

[Doug]

I have also given up on bi-directional printing and now let the printer
grind away at half speed for ever and ever and a day. The latest printer
drivers make not the least bit of difference.

Doug
==================================
| (e-mail address removed) wrote in
| |
| > I know that XP does not want to use an interrupt on the
| > printer port, but it should still do ECP right. Try
| > changing the BIOS to just ECP, not EPP+ECP.
| >
| > FWIW, I have an HP inkjet (HP-932C) and the toolbox works
| > fine. My parallel port is set for ECP.
| >
| >
|
| I've about given up on this one!
|
| In my BIOS, I've tried EPP, ECP, and ECP+EPP (which is supposed
| to be the best, or so I've been told). None of these will make
| XP recognize LPT1 as bi-directional, but *all* of these settings
| work correctly with 98.
|
| JR

 

[Jerry Rivers]

I have also given up on bi-directional printing and now let
the printer grind away at half speed for ever and ever and
a day. The latest printer drivers make not the least bit of
difference.

Doug
==================================
message | (e-mail address removed) wrote in
| |
| > I know that XP does not want to use an interrupt on the
| > printer port, but it should still do ECP right. Try
| > changing the BIOS to just ECP, not EPP+ECP.
| >
| > FWIW, I have an HP inkjet (HP-932C) and the toolbox
| > works fine. My parallel port is set for ECP.
| >
| >
|
| I've about given up on this one!
|
| In my BIOS, I've tried EPP, ECP, and ECP+EPP (which is
| supposed to be the best, or so I've been told). None of
| these will make XP recognize LPT1 as bi-directional, but
| *all* of these settings work correctly with 98.
|
| JR

Doug, I haven't seen *any* problems whatsoever printing to my
HP 1220C in Win XP. It is as fast as ever.

This bi-directional thing is mainly a damnned annoyance to me
- I can't get HP's Toolbox to work. I used to use the Toolbox
to graphically show me how much ink was left in my cartridges
but without bi-directional comm on LPT1, the Toolbox says it
can't monitor the port - obviously - it can't get any info
back from the printer to the PC because Bill Gates crummy O/S
doesn't believe the port is bi-directional.

God, I hope Linux catches on!

JR

 

[Doug]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I have an old Lexmark Z11printer and it
does not work as well without bi-directional support. I also have an
Epson Stylus PHOTO 820 which uses the USB port and have had no problems
with it.

Doug
======================
| |
| > I have also given up on bi-directional printing and now let
| > the printer grind away at half speed for ever and ever and
| > a day. The latest printer drivers make not the least bit of
| > difference.
| >
| > Doug
| > ==================================
| > message | >| (e-mail address removed) wrote in
| >| | >|
| >| > I know that XP does not want to use an interrupt on the
| >| > printer port, but it should still do ECP right. Try
| >| > changing the BIOS to just ECP, not EPP+ECP.
| >| >
| >| > FWIW, I have an HP inkjet (HP-932C) and the toolbox
| >| > works fine. My parallel port is set for ECP.
| >| >
| >| >
| >|
| >| I've about given up on this one!
| >|
| >| In my BIOS, I've tried EPP, ECP, and ECP+EPP (which is
| >| supposed to be the best, or so I've been told). None of
| >| these will make XP recognize LPT1 as bi-directional, but
| >| *all* of these settings work correctly with 98.
| >|
| >| JR
| >
| >
| >
|
| Doug, I haven't seen *any* problems whatsoever printing to my
| HP 1220C in Win XP. It is as fast as ever.
|
| This bi-directional thing is mainly a damnned annoyance to me
| - I can't get HP's Toolbox to work. I used to use the Toolbox
| to graphically show me how much ink was left in my cartridges
| but without bi-directional comm on LPT1, the Toolbox says it
| can't monitor the port - obviously - it can't get any info
| back from the printer to the PC because Bill Gates crummy O/S
| doesn't believe the port is bi-directional.
|
| God, I hope Linux catches on!
|
| JR