BJ200 prints garbage even at DOS but will self test

[GEO Me]

A friend has an 'antique' Canon BJ200 which prints only a few garbage
characters, then asks for more paper.....

There are two self tests:
1-
Power on while holding the ON LINE and PRINT MODE buttons. Press
power until it beeps.
To stop press and hold the ON LINE and PRINT MODE buttons.

2-
Power on while holding the ON LINE button until it beeps.
To stop press and hold the ON LINE button.

I don't know if selecting another driver would help -BJ-10e for
instance- but it sounds as if there is a problem with the driver or
with the communication with the port.

Geo

 

[Paul Furman]

A friend has an 'antique' Canon BJ200 which prints only a few garbage
characters, then asks for more paper even at a DOS command line or test
page from properties but it will print in a self test (powering on with
the button held down) it prints some two page letter from 1982 <grin>
which must be loaded in the firmware.

So it's a problem even at the DOS level. We uninstalled & redid the
default driver listed in win 2000.

Any ideas?

I know it's an ancient b&w cheap printer but it has worked just fine for
about a decade <grin>. It's on lpt1.

 

[GEO Me]

Thanks, this is the one that printed out the old letter, I think the
other one spat out the same garbage characters. Is it supposed to print
out an old letter?

According to the manual the second one should print the font list,
the first one should print 'a repeating pattern of characters'.

There are some DIP switches on the top. Switch number 12 changes
from Epson LQ mode (switch ON), to BJ-10 mode (switch OFF).

OK we could try another driver but does that even matter when printing
from a DOS command line?

I am not familiar with the DOS emulations; I am still mainly using
Win 3.1 Isn't a DOS command line in Win 2000 just an emulation
run within Windows?

Geo

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

A friend has an 'antique' Canon BJ200 which prints only a few garbage
characters, then asks for more paper even at a DOS command line or test
page from properties but it will print in a self test (powering on with
the button held down) it prints some two page letter from 1982 <grin>
which must be loaded in the firmware.

So it's a problem even at the DOS level. We uninstalled & redid the
default driver listed in win 2000.

Any ideas?

I know it's an ancient b&w cheap printer but it has worked just fine for
about a decade <grin>. It's on lpt1.

I know my BJC-4300 would do this if it was turned on during the
computer start-up. The easiest solution was simply to make sure the
printer was turned off before turning the computer on.

Also, if it has a program that auto-extracts the drivers and then
launches an installation routine, try to find that directory and copy
it/write protect it, don't do the installation routine, and then use
the Add/Remove Hardware wizard (install manually, browse to the INF
file, etc), to install the printer. This worked better with less
hardware conflicts for my old BJC-4300 (and also for my Ensoniq
AudioPCI card).

---

http://www.FenrirOnline.com

Computer services, custom metal etching,
arts, crafts, and much more.

 

[Paul Furman]

There are two self tests:
1-
Power on while holding the ON LINE and PRINT MODE buttons. Press
power until it beeps.
To stop press and hold the ON LINE and PRINT MODE buttons.

2-
Power on while holding the ON LINE button until it beeps.

Thanks, this is the one that printed out the old letter, I think the
other one spat out the same garbage characters. Is it supposed to print
out an old letter?

To stop press and hold the ON LINE button.

I don't know if selecting another driver would help -BJ-10e for
instance- but it sounds as if there is a problem with the driver or
with the communication with the port.

OK we could try another driver but does that even matter when printing
from a DOS command line?

 

[Paul Furman]

I know my BJC-4300 would do this if it was turned on during the
computer start-up. The easiest solution was simply to make sure the
printer was turned off before turning the computer on.

Also, if it has a program that auto-extracts the drivers and then
launches an installation routine, try to find that directory and copy
it/write protect it, don't do the installation routine, and then use
the Add/Remove Hardware wizard (install manually, browse to the INF
file, etc), to install the printer. This worked better with less
hardware conflicts for my old BJC-4300 (and also for my Ensoniq
AudioPCI card).

We rebooted the computer & printer a few times different ways. Maybe
download a new driver & manually install, it might have got corrupted or
something.

 

[Paul Furman]

According to the manual the second one should print the font list,
the first one should print 'a repeating pattern of characters'.

It's a business letter from some printer tech marketing or review
company... dated mid-1980's.

There are some DIP switches on the top. Switch number 12 changes
from Epson LQ mode (switch ON), to BJ-10 mode (switch OFF).

OK we'll try that, thanks.

I am not familiar with the DOS emulations; I am still mainly using
Win 3.1 Isn't a DOS command line in Win 2000 just an emulation
run within Windows?

I don't know. The troubleshooting wizard asks if you tried printing from
the command line.

 

[cvt]

We rebooted the computer & printer a few times different ways. Maybe
download a new driver & manually install, it might have got corrupted
or something.

Uhm, should check your parallel cable, try another one.

since your issue is text mode, if you can get hold of a *nix (not a dos
boy), try sending the text manually to the printer..
you know, something like this.
# echo "This is a test" > /dev/lp0 <-- will print that text
# echo "Line 2" > /dev/lp0 <-- This will appear as a second
line (staircased due to no CR)
# echo "^L" > /dev/lp0 <-- this will eject the page

 

[cvt]

Uhm, should check your parallel cable, try another one.

since your issue is text mode, if you can get hold of a *nix (not a dos
boy), try sending the text manually to the printer..
you know, something like this.
# echo "This is a test" > /dev/lp0 <-- will print that text
# echo "Line 2" > /dev/lp0 <-- This will appear as a second
line (staircased due to no CR)
# echo "^L" > /dev/lp0 <-- this will eject the page

Sorry, that was how to print from BASH, I don't know how to do it from
commandline in DOS, but would effectively the same thing.

 

[Paul Furman]

Sorry, that was how to print from BASH, I don't know how to do it from
commandline in DOS, but would effectively the same thing.

What we tried in the DOS window was:
print "hello" > lpt1
-and that made the printer wake up & spit out garbage as before.

In any case, it looks like the problem is a failing hard drive since now
the computer won't boot so I'm guessing the printer is still OK but the
computer has died.

 

[Paul Furman]

It looks like the problem is a failing hard drive since now the computer
won't boot so I'm guessing the printer is still OK but the computer has
died.

 

[cvt]

What we tried in the DOS window was:
print "hello" > lpt1
-and that made the printer wake up & spit out garbage as before.

In any case, it looks like the problem is a failing hard drive since now
the computer won't boot so I'm guessing the printer is still OK but the
computer has died.

Failing harddrive wouldn't (well, 95% chance wouldn't) cause that.
The motherboard/PSU/Cable seem much more obvious candidates if the printer
is fine? which is still unkown.

Whenever I seen garbage printed in the past, it was the printer itself,
normally just a cold reboot (of the printer) was all it needed, I remember
flashing a couple to fix it.
I only have the stuff to flash epsons, but there may be some way of finding
the software to flash the firmware on the printer, theres a chance it could
be corrupt and a flash may be all it needs.

 

[Jonathan Lowe]

It looks like the problem is a failing hard drive since now the computer
won't boot so I'm guessing the printer is still OK but the computer has
died.

Sounds reasonable, the page of data has to be formatted on the printer
before it is sent to the printer. If the hard drive is on it's last legs
that data could be corrupted before being sent to the port, thus the printer
would print garbage and ask for lots of paper. So don't throw out the
printer yet
--
..
....
Cheers,
Jonathan Lowe
Printers Only