M
Miss Perspicacia Tick
I have two Canon units (i9950 and iP8500) both are experiencing identical
issues, which really makes me wonder (am I correct in thinking that the
basic driver for both models is identical?). I have two boxes here - one
running Windows XP, the other OS X Tiger and the issues are happening on
both systems which makes me wonder if Canon actually know how to write a
decent driver.
I first noticed this about 10 days ago when the print quality on my Pixma
declined. I opened 'er up and saw that the black tank was completely
drained, but I'd received no warning from either the status monitor or the
printer itself. I had a quick shufty at the ink levels in the status monitor
and it was showing that the black was still roughly half full (even though
it was obvious to anyone looking at the tank itself it was completely
empty). I popped in a replacement, but the printer didn't go through a
charge cycle, so I ran a cleaning cycle in the hope that it might update the
status - it didn't. I then compared the other SM levels with the actual
amount of ink remaining in the other tanks - and noticed that it was
misreporting every single colour (and it's indiscriminate about how it
reports - e.g. it's informing me that the red and green are practically full
when, in reality, they're both two-thirds empty, it's telling me that the
yellow is nearly gone when, in fact, there's more than half a tank left).
I then, just for the sheer hell of it, decided to do a manual head
alignment. This is where I noticed the next problem - each bar in the 'K'
column (I believe that's the bi-directional one) is equally flawed - i.e. I
cannot select the best one because there isn't a best one!
I spoke to Canon (and got put through to India - literally!) and, obviously,
had real problems making myself understood (I think they're just trained to
tell people to reinstall the driver and that's the sum total of their
English). I was then called back by a tier two rep who spoke English but was
just about as clueless as the tier one droid. He wants me to return the
printer, at my expense, for them to have sitting on a shelf somewhere for 10
working days (I don't trust these repair centres as far as I can spit at
'em).
Just for laughs, I switched on the i9950, which hasn't had much use since I
bought the Pixma. It was furnished with a new set of OEMs not so long ago
and all are practically full. I checked out its status monitor and it's
telling me that each tank has 25% left - obviously erroneous. I then
performed a manual alignment and it's having identical alignment issues as
the Pixma, but not with column K; this is column E (photo cyan).
Both units are using OEM tanks. The Pixma is less than three months old.
Could someone tell me how the SM obtains its information from the printer?
Would I be correct in thinking that the little white pads under each tank
contain a sensor and that sends info to the driver? If that is the case,
would replacing the print head and reinstalling the driver help matters? I
bought a printhead (I believe that both units use an identical head) on eBay
(brand new, still sealed in its foil) for 99p because I was the only
interested party and there was no reserve.
Could anyone tell me how best to troubleshoot? Please don't tell me to go
back to Canon - I couldn't stand another 90 minutes on hold only to be put
through to some Indian who cannot string a coherent sentence together).
Both units are hooked up via high speed USB connections.
Any ideas or do I have to write off two (otherwise) perfectly working units?
The Pixma is my office printer and is in constant daily use.
Cheers m'dears!
issues, which really makes me wonder (am I correct in thinking that the
basic driver for both models is identical?). I have two boxes here - one
running Windows XP, the other OS X Tiger and the issues are happening on
both systems which makes me wonder if Canon actually know how to write a
decent driver.
I first noticed this about 10 days ago when the print quality on my Pixma
declined. I opened 'er up and saw that the black tank was completely
drained, but I'd received no warning from either the status monitor or the
printer itself. I had a quick shufty at the ink levels in the status monitor
and it was showing that the black was still roughly half full (even though
it was obvious to anyone looking at the tank itself it was completely
empty). I popped in a replacement, but the printer didn't go through a
charge cycle, so I ran a cleaning cycle in the hope that it might update the
status - it didn't. I then compared the other SM levels with the actual
amount of ink remaining in the other tanks - and noticed that it was
misreporting every single colour (and it's indiscriminate about how it
reports - e.g. it's informing me that the red and green are practically full
when, in reality, they're both two-thirds empty, it's telling me that the
yellow is nearly gone when, in fact, there's more than half a tank left).
I then, just for the sheer hell of it, decided to do a manual head
alignment. This is where I noticed the next problem - each bar in the 'K'
column (I believe that's the bi-directional one) is equally flawed - i.e. I
cannot select the best one because there isn't a best one!
I spoke to Canon (and got put through to India - literally!) and, obviously,
had real problems making myself understood (I think they're just trained to
tell people to reinstall the driver and that's the sum total of their
English). I was then called back by a tier two rep who spoke English but was
just about as clueless as the tier one droid. He wants me to return the
printer, at my expense, for them to have sitting on a shelf somewhere for 10
working days (I don't trust these repair centres as far as I can spit at
'em).
Just for laughs, I switched on the i9950, which hasn't had much use since I
bought the Pixma. It was furnished with a new set of OEMs not so long ago
and all are practically full. I checked out its status monitor and it's
telling me that each tank has 25% left - obviously erroneous. I then
performed a manual alignment and it's having identical alignment issues as
the Pixma, but not with column K; this is column E (photo cyan).
Both units are using OEM tanks. The Pixma is less than three months old.
Could someone tell me how the SM obtains its information from the printer?
Would I be correct in thinking that the little white pads under each tank
contain a sensor and that sends info to the driver? If that is the case,
would replacing the print head and reinstalling the driver help matters? I
bought a printhead (I believe that both units use an identical head) on eBay
(brand new, still sealed in its foil) for 99p because I was the only
interested party and there was no reserve.
Could anyone tell me how best to troubleshoot? Please don't tell me to go
back to Canon - I couldn't stand another 90 minutes on hold only to be put
through to some Indian who cannot string a coherent sentence together).
Both units are hooked up via high speed USB connections.
Any ideas or do I have to write off two (otherwise) perfectly working units?
The Pixma is my office printer and is in constant daily use.
Cheers m'dears!