XP support for Old Epson Stylus Color II

[JazzMan]

Will Windows XP support this printer?

I'm setting up an XP system from bits and pieces from around the house.
I have this old (1996) Epson Stylus Color II printer. The printer works
in Self Test (Power On with ALT key pressed). The print heads appear to
be clean.

The driver I am using is the Epson Stylus Color II ESC P2 driver that XP
comes with. I install it and attempt to print a test page and nothing.
Try to print from Notepad, nothing.

I've set the LPT port from Auto to Enable, with Bi-Directional support
(something in the BIOS about Auto not being enabled in Plug and Play
Mode). I've been assured that the (parallel) cable I'm using is good,
although I have yet to confirm this.

 

[Cari \(MS MVP\)]

It should do. Do you have another PC you can try to install it on?

 

[Thomas Ferguson]

Yes, Windows XP should install this printer using plug and play
detection. I am assuming that when a self-test is done, the printer
performs as one would expect a properly-functioning unit to do.

To do this:

If there are drivers now installed for the printer:

When the power is off to the printer and computer both, disconnect the
parallel cable from either the computer or the printer. Turn the power
on the computer and start Windows XP normally. Navigate to the Printers
and faxes list and delete any printer drivers installed for the printer.
Shut the computer down and turn the power off.

Now:
Disconnect the other end of the printer cable. Examine the pins to
assure there are no bent pins and the connectors are in good shape. Make
sure the cable is IEEE compliant or IEEE certified. Attach the cable to
the computer and printer making sure the connectors are snug. Power-on
the printer. Power-on the computer. As it starts, enter the BIOS setup
and set the port or SPP or similar but not EPP or ECP. Save settings and
exit. Let the computer start normally. The printer should be detected.
Follow on-screen prompts. You might be asked to insert the Windows XP
disk in the drive. At least I hope you are.

Let us know.

The manual for this printer is on-line at Epson.com.

Tom
MSMVP-DTS

: Will Windows XP support this printer?
:
: I'm setting up an XP system from bits and pieces from around the
house.
: I have this old (1996) Epson Stylus Color II printer. The printer
works
: in Self Test (Power On with ALT key pressed). The print heads appear
to
: be clean.
:
: The driver I am using is the Epson Stylus Color II ESC P2 driver that
XP
: comes with. I install it and attempt to print a test page and
nothing.
: Try to print from Notepad, nothing.
:
: I've set the LPT port from Auto to Enable, with Bi-Directional support
: (something in the BIOS about Auto not being enabled in Plug and Play
: Mode). I've been assured that the (parallel) cable I'm using is good,
: although I have yet to confirm this.

 

[Guest]

Hello,

The printer was not detected a boot-up.

I deleted the driver (Control Panel->Printers and Faxes->Delete Printer).
Bought a brand new printer (parallel) cable. Entered BIOS, the LPT port had
the following choices: Output-Only, Bi-Directional, EPP, and ECP. I chose
Bi-Directional. Plug & Play OS was set to Yes. Booted up Windows XP.
Printer was not detected. I was never prompted to enter anything concerning
the printer

Windows XP is running on a DELL Dimension XPS T500.

Any other ideas?

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

Plug and Play in the BIOS should actually be set to NO or DISABLED as per
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314068

You might also try setting the LPT setting to EPP.

 

[JazzMan]

Plug and Play in the BIOS should actually be set to NO or DISABLED as per
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314068

You might also try setting the LPT setting to EPP.

Turned plug and play off, set LPT to EPP. Printer not detected at
bootup.

Installed driver by manually invoking wizard, attempt to print test
page, no test page printed.

The error in the print queue indicates the printer is offline; however,
the printer has no online/offline button, just a pause button, which is
off (i.e. not paused) upon power up. I am assuming that paused is
offline and non-pause is online for this printer.

Setup printer in Hex Mode to see what codes (if any) are being sent to
printer and none appeared. For some reason the PC is not communicating
with the printer.

Any other ideas?

 

[Thomas Ferguson]

Go to Device Manager (Control Panel system Device manager) and see
if there are entries for the printer ports under the Ports section of
the listing. Note if there is a yellow ! or red x beside the listing.

Let us know.

Tom
MSMVP-DTS

: Hello,
:
: The printer was not detected a boot-up.
:
: I deleted the driver (Control Panel->Printers and Faxes->Delete
Printer).
: Bought a brand new printer (parallel) cable. Entered BIOS, the LPT
port had
: the following choices: Output-Only, Bi-Directional, EPP, and ECP. I
chose
: Bi-Directional. Plug & Play OS was set to Yes. Booted up Windows XP.
: Printer was not detected. I was never prompted to enter anything
concerning
: the printer
:
: Windows XP is running on a DELL Dimension XPS T500.
:
: Any other ideas?
:
:
:
:
: : > Yes, Windows XP should install this printer using plug and play
: > detection. I am assuming that when a self-test is done, the printer
: > performs as one would expect a properly-functioning unit to do.
: >
: > To do this:
: >
: > If there are drivers now installed for the printer:
: >
: > When the power is off to the printer and computer both, disconnect
the
: > parallel cable from either the computer or the printer. Turn the
power
: > on the computer and start Windows XP normally. Navigate to the
Printers
: > and faxes list and delete any printer drivers installed for the
printer.
: > Shut the computer down and turn the power off.
: >
: > Now:
: > Disconnect the other end of the printer cable. Examine the pins to
: > assure there are no bent pins and the connectors are in good shape.
Make
: > sure the cable is IEEE compliant or IEEE certified. Attach the cable
to
: > the computer and printer making sure the connectors are snug.
Power-on
: > the printer. Power-on the computer. As it starts, enter the BIOS
setup
: > and set the port or SPP or similar but not EPP or ECP. Save settings
and
: > exit. Let the computer start normally. The printer should be
detected.
: > Follow on-screen prompts. You might be asked to insert the Windows
XP
: > disk in the drive. At least I hope you are.
: >
: > Let us know.
: >
: > The manual for this printer is on-line at Epson.com.
: >
: > Tom
: > MSMVP-DTS
: >
:
:

 

[JazzMan]

The ports are there under Ports (COM & LPT)

The printer port is LPT1. There is NO yellow ! or red X beside the
listing. The Device Status says "The Device is working properly".

 

[Thomas Ferguson]

Next, one would test the printer port using a loop-back test. Failing
that, try connecting the printer to another computer and see if it works
properly. And connect a different printer, known to work properly, to
the box and test that.

Tom
MSMVP-DTS

: The ports are there under Ports (COM & LPT)
:
: The printer port is LPT1. There is NO yellow ! or red X beside the
: listing. The Device Status says "The Device is working properly".
:
:
:
:
: In article <#[email protected]>,
:
: > Go to Device Manager (Control Panel system Device manager) and
see
: > if there are entries for the printer ports under the Ports section
of
: > the listing. Note if there is a yellow ! or red x beside the
listing.
: >
: > Let us know.
: >
: > Tom
: > MSMVP-DTS
: >

 

[JazzMan]

How does one perform the loop-back on a parallel port?

 

[Thomas Ferguson]

The loopback test is to check the operation of the port at the hardware
level. For it you need a specially wired plug for the port and the
appropriate software or the ability to write it yourself. See
http://www.passmark.com/products/loopback.htm



In general, the information here might also be useful.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=128345



Was any attempt made to install drivers for this printer obtained from
any other place than the Windows XP CD?



Let us know.



Tom

MSMVP-DTS





: How does one perform the loop-back on a parallel port?
:
:
: >-----Original Message-----
: >Next, one would test the printer port using a loop-back
: test. Failing
: >that, try connecting the printer to another computer and
: see if it works
: >properly. And connect a different printer, known to work
: properly, to
: >the box and test that.
: >
: >Tom
: >MSMVP-DTS
: >
: >: >: The ports are there under Ports (COM & LPT)
: >:
: >: The printer port is LPT1. There is NO yellow ! or red X
: beside the
: >: listing. The Device Status says "The Device is working
: properly".
: >:
: >:
: >:
: >:
: >: In article <#[email protected]>,
: >:
: >: > Go to Device Manager (Control Panel system Device
: manager) and
: >see
: >: > if there are entries for the printer ports under the
: Ports section
: >of
: >: > the listing. Note if there is a yellow ! or red x
: beside the
: >listing.
: >: >
: >: > Let us know.
: >: >
: >: > Tom
: >: > MSMVP-DTS
: >: >
: >
: >
: >.
: >

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

In Device Manager, Ports (Com and LPT), under the Port Settings of the LPT
port, is Enable Legacy Plug and Play Detection CHECKED?

 

[JazzMan]

I decided to take a different tack and put a different printer in the
mix. I took a Epson Stylus 740 and connected it to the printer cable.
I changed the BIOS so the LPT was Bi-Directional, booted the PC and XP
sees this printer. In fact it automatically loaded the Epson Stylus
Color 740 ESC/P2 driver. Test page prints fine. What is also
interesting is that during boot not only was the 740 seen, but the Epson
Stylus Color II was also seen (never removed the driver), although it
was not connected. Outputting a test page produces a print out on the
740, although the quality is noticably inferior to the test page which
was generated by the 740 driver.

Bottom line here is that the port is good, the cable is good. Probably
the parallel interface in the Color II is suspect, or else the driver
communications with the printer is suspect. As I said this is an old
printer that last worked (serially) on an Mac LC III and I haven't had a
system to use it on in a long time, although it does work in self test
mode.

 

[Thomas Ferguson]

OK. Good move.

Now we know that it is the printer-computer interface.

The driver is probably OK. Even if sub-optimal in support for the
printer, something should be printed in response to well-defined output
from the computer. I would suspect that the printer ROM has to be
replaced. Try it on another computer.

Tom
MSMVP-DTS




:I decided to take a different tack and put a different printer in the
: mix. I took a Epson Stylus 740 and connected it to the printer cable.
: I changed the BIOS so the LPT was Bi-Directional, booted the PC and XP
: sees this printer. In fact it automatically loaded the Epson Stylus
: Color 740 ESC/P2 driver. Test page prints fine. What is also
: interesting is that during boot not only was the 740 seen, but the
Epson
: Stylus Color II was also seen (never removed the driver), although it
: was not connected. Outputting a test page produces a print out on the
: 740, although the quality is noticably inferior to the test page which
: was generated by the 740 driver.
:
: Bottom line here is that the port is good, the cable is good.
Probably
: the parallel interface in the Color II is suspect, or else the driver
: communications with the printer is suspect. As I said this is an old
: printer that last worked (serially) on an Mac LC III and I haven't had
a
: system to use it on in a long time, although it does work in self test
: mode.
:
:
:
: In article <[email protected]>,
:
: > The loopback test is to check the operation of the port at the
hardware
: > level. For it you need a specially wired plug for the port and the
: > appropriate software or the ability to write it yourself. See
: > http://www.passmark.com/products/loopback.htm
: >
: >
: >
: > In general, the information here might also be useful.
: >
: > http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=128345
: >
: >
: >
: > Was any attempt made to install drivers for this printer obtained
from
: > any other place than the Windows XP CD?
: >
: >
: >
: > Let us know.
: >
: >
: >
: > Tom
: >
: > MSMVP-DTS
: >
: >
: >
: >
: >

 

[JazzMan]

It wasn't, but I changed it to be set and still no luck. See replies to
Thomas Ferguson; bottom line is that the port works, the driver and/or
the printer (probably the printer) is suspect.

What I'd like to do is try an older version of Windows (98?) to see if
the printer works with it. Unfortunately, I don't know if its possible
to install 98 on my D: partition AFTER XP has been installed on my C:
partition. I guess I could install linux and see if the printer works
with it.