How to test the LPT printer port?

  • Thread starter Thread starter TVeblen
  • Start date Start date
T

TVeblen

How do you test to see if the LPT1 port is functioning in hardware?
Would LPT1 fail alone or would the serial ports or other devices go with it?
Can it be repaired?

Intel D865PERL MB
HP Laserjet IIP Plus
Canon MP780
Windows XP Home SP2

My Laserjet IIP Plus printer stopped working on this computer suddenly after
many months of reliable service. When I try and print anything the printer
que icon in the system tray immediately shows a red X and a balloon
announces "This Document failed to print". Status: Error-Print.
This happens for every application, including "Print Test Page" for the
printer's properties under Printers & Faxes.
*I have connected the printer and the cable to another computer. They both
work fine.
*I have a second printer connected via USB. It prints fine from this
computer.
*I can't print to the Laserjet from a networked computer.
*Attempts to print from DOS prompt results in nothing. No action or message.
*I have deleted and restarted to reestablish the LPT1 port from device
manager.
*I have deleted the printer and reinstalled it.
*I have tried to start the spooler (NET START SPOOLER) from a DOS prompt.
*I have toggled all the port settings, one at a time, and restarted.
*I have scanned for viruses, spyware. Did a file cleanup (Temp files, etc).
*I have check BIOS settings and LPT1 is listed and set to Auto.
*I attempted a PrtScn while in CMOS setup using the Laserjet's "FormFeed"
function to print the ASCI dump. No luck.
Still no printer.

It seems I need a diagnostic to see if this is a hardware problem. Does
anyone know how to determine this?

Note: once, I simply reinstalled the drivers. Then when I tried to print the
test page the print que went into a kind of loop. Spooling - stopped -
spooling - stopped, that kind of thing, forever, until I canceled it. Never
did it again.
TIA
 
TVeblen said:
How do you test to see if the LPT1 port is functioning in hardware?
Would LPT1 fail alone or would the serial ports or other devices go with
it?
Can it be repaired?

Intel D865PERL MB
HP Laserjet IIP Plus
Canon MP780
Windows XP Home SP2

My Laserjet IIP Plus printer stopped working on this computer suddenly
after
many months of reliable service. When I try and print anything the printer
que icon in the system tray immediately shows a red X and a balloon
announces "This Document failed to print". Status: Error-Print.
This happens for every application, including "Print Test Page" for the
printer's properties under Printers & Faxes.
*I have connected the printer and the cable to another computer. They both
work fine.
*I have a second printer connected via USB. It prints fine from this
computer.
*I can't print to the Laserjet from a networked computer.
*Attempts to print from DOS prompt results in nothing. No action or
message.
*I have deleted and restarted to reestablish the LPT1 port from device
manager.
*I have deleted the printer and reinstalled it.
*I have tried to start the spooler (NET START SPOOLER) from a DOS prompt.
*I have toggled all the port settings, one at a time, and restarted.
*I have scanned for viruses, spyware. Did a file cleanup (Temp files,
etc).
*I have check BIOS settings and LPT1 is listed and set to Auto.
*I attempted a PrtScn while in CMOS setup using the Laserjet's "FormFeed"
function to print the ASCI dump. No luck.
Still no printer.

It seems I need a diagnostic to see if this is a hardware problem. Does
anyone know how to determine this?

Note: once, I simply reinstalled the drivers. Then when I tried to print
the
test page the print que went into a kind of loop. Spooling - stopped -
spooling - stopped, that kind of thing, forever, until I canceled it.
Never
did it again.
TIA
Click to expand...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314085
 
How do you test to see if the LPT1 port is functioning in hardware?
Would LPT1 fail alone or would the serial ports or other devices go with it?
Can it be repaired?

Intel D865PERL MB
HP Laserjet IIP Plus
Canon MP780
Windows XP Home SP2

My Laserjet IIP Plus printer stopped working on this computer suddenly after
Click to expand...

There *is* such a thing as a loopback plug for parallel printer
interface. I have one, and the now-12 year old DOS diagnostic software
that it worked with. I'm not sure how good it is on a modern
mobo. Parallel ports are going away, anyway.

None of that does you any good.

The commmon problem with modern computers talking to old printer gear
is the printer port mode is much too fast.Maybe yours changed. Go
into CMOS, look at your PP setting and dumb it down to the lowest
etting.

Swap the cable.

Try the printer on another compter, etc. All the usual substitution
troubleshoshooting.

Figure out how to make your printer do a self-test. See if it works.

This site has lots of info. http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/

The IIP was a great printer, but a shiny new one might pay for itself
on lower cost-perp-age and on the electricity bill. I just bought a
Samsung 2010 for $130 that is lightyears better than the IIP any way
but bin capacity and monthly duty cycle.

Brother makes a great networked business printer for $300.

I have a IIIP and whenever I power it up I can see my electric meter
run faster.
 
Al said:
There *is* such a thing as a loopback plug for parallel printer
interface. I have one, and the now-12 year old DOS diagnostic software
that it worked with. I'm not sure how good it is on a modern
mobo. Parallel ports are going away, anyway.

None of that does you any good.

The commmon problem with modern computers talking to old printer gear
is the printer port mode is much too fast.Maybe yours changed. Go
into CMOS, look at your PP setting and dumb it down to the lowest
etting.

Swap the cable.

Try the printer on another compter, etc. All the usual substitution
troubleshoshooting.

Figure out how to make your printer do a self-test. See if it works.

This site has lots of info. http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/

The IIP was a great printer, but a shiny new one might pay for itself
on lower cost-perp-age and on the electricity bill. I just bought a
Samsung 2010 for $130 that is lightyears better than the IIP any way
but bin capacity and monthly duty cycle.

Brother makes a great networked business printer for $300.

I have a IIIP and whenever I power it up I can see my electric meter
run faster.
Click to expand...

Another thing I would add is to make sure the failed print jobs cued up
have been deleted. Some OS's removed them upon shutting down, but I am
not sure about XP.

CMOS setup is a good place to start, it could even be that someone
disabled the Parallel port or changed the port to which the printer is
to print. In fact, checking the Windows Device Manager to see if it
exists might be in order, and checking it against the selected printer port.
 
Al Dykes said:
There *is* such a thing as a loopback plug for parallel printer
interface. I have one, and the now-12 year old DOS diagnostic software
that it worked with. I'm not sure how good it is on a modern
mobo. Parallel ports are going away, anyway.

None of that does you any good.

The commmon problem with modern computers talking to old printer gear
is the printer port mode is much too fast.Maybe yours changed. Go
into CMOS, look at your PP setting and dumb it down to the lowest
etting.

Swap the cable.

Try the printer on another compter, etc. All the usual substitution
troubleshoshooting.

Figure out how to make your printer do a self-test. See if it works.

This site has lots of info. http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/

The IIP was a great printer, but a shiny new one might pay for itself
on lower cost-perp-age and on the electricity bill. I just bought a
Samsung 2010 for $130 that is lightyears better than the IIP any way
but bin capacity and monthly duty cycle.

Brother makes a great networked business printer for $300.

I have a IIIP and whenever I power it up I can see my electric meter
run faster.
Click to expand...

I checked all those usual suspects. The printer works, the cable is good.
All the setting "look" normal. I have it narrowed down to the box.
Thanks.
(And the IIp is freakin noisy too!)
 
Ken said:
Another thing I would add is to make sure the failed print jobs cued up
have been deleted. Some OS's removed them upon shutting down, but I am
not sure about XP.

CMOS setup is a good place to start, it could even be that someone
disabled the Parallel port or changed the port to which the printer is to
print. In fact, checking the Windows Device Manager to see if it exists
might be in order, and checking it against the selected printer port.
Click to expand...

No, XP just makes the que longer and longer. I must cancel every failed
print test. Sometimes they come back after restart (clue?).
CMOS setting are OK. And I tried changing "Auto" to "Enabled" too.
The LPT1 Port exists, has been reinstalled, and the printer is set to the
correct port.
Thanks
 
No, XP just makes the que longer and longer. I must cancel every failed
print test. Sometimes they come back after restart (clue?).
CMOS setting are OK. And I tried changing "Auto" to "Enabled" too.
The LPT1 Port exists, has been reinstalled, and the printer is set to the
correct port.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Loopback cable info: It may give you a clue for more googling,

http://www.lammertbies.nl/comm/cable/parallel.html


If you have no other excuse to replace your system, a cheap laser
printer will connect via USB and do an end-run of your broken parallel
port.

A slightly better printer ($250, Brother 5250DN) ) will get you a
printer with an ethernet interface. If you don't have a home LAN, a
crossover cable will connect the printer to your PC directly.

If you have a network at home you can hook the LJII to another PC and
share it in the network.
 
Al Dykes "contributed" in alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt:
There *is* such a thing as a loopback plug for parallel printer
interface. I have one, and the now-12 year old DOS diagnostic software
that it worked with. I'm not sure how good it is on a modern
mobo. Parallel ports are going away, anyway.

None of that does you any good.

The commmon problem with modern computers talking to old printer gear
is the printer port mode is much too fast.Maybe yours changed. Go
into CMOS, look at your PP setting and dumb it down to the lowest
etting.

Swap the cable.

Try the printer on another compter, etc. All the usual substitution
troubleshoshooting.

Figure out how to make your printer do a self-test. See if it works.

This site has lots of info. http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/

The IIP was a great printer, but a shiny new one might pay for itself
on lower cost-perp-age and on the electricity bill. I just bought a
Samsung 2010 for $130 that is lightyears better than the IIP any way
but bin capacity and monthly duty cycle.

Brother makes a great networked business printer for $300.

I have a IIIP and whenever I power it up I can see my electric meter
run faster.
Click to expand...

Have you been drinking again, Al?
 
TVeblen said:
How do you test to see if the LPT1 port is functioning in hardware?
Click to expand...

There are various diagnostics around that use a loopback plug.
Those can be a problem if you cant solder one up.

The other approach is to boot something like a Bart PE CD or
knoppix CD and see if you can print from that. That eliminates
the XP config being screwed up etc.
Would LPT1 fail alone
Click to expand...

Yes, that does certainly happen.
or would the serial ports or other devices go with it?
Click to expand...

Not usually.
Can it be repaired?
Click to expand...

Nope, but it isnt hard to add a parallel port on a
card if you have a free PCI slot. May make more
sense to use a USB/printer port adapter tho.
 
Rod Speed said:
There are various diagnostics around that use a loopback plug.
Those can be a problem if you cant solder one up.

The other approach is to boot something like a Bart PE CD or
knoppix CD and see if you can print from that. That eliminates
the XP config being screwed up etc.


Yes, that does certainly happen.


Not usually.


Nope, but it isnt hard to add a parallel port on a
card if you have a free PCI slot. May make more
sense to use a USB/printer port adapter tho.
Click to expand...

I'll check Newegg for one of those.
 
TVeblen said:
I'll check Newegg for one of those.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt unless you cant print from the knoppix CD.

And I'd also check that the port config hasnt changed in the bios too.
 
How do you test to see if the LPT1 port is functioning in hardware?
Would LPT1 fail alone or would the serial ports or other devices go with it?
Can it be repaired?

Intel D865PERL MB
HP Laserjet IIP Plus
Canon MP780
Windows XP Home SP2

My Laserjet IIP Plus printer stopped working on this computer suddenly after
many months of reliable service. When I try and print anything the printer
que icon in the system tray immediately shows a red X and a balloon
announces "This Document failed to print". Status: Error-Print.
This happens for every application, including "Print Test Page" for the
printer's properties under Printers & Faxes.
*I have connected the printer and the cable to another computer. They both
work fine.
*I have a second printer connected via USB. It prints fine from this
computer.
*I can't print to the Laserjet from a networked computer.
*Attempts to print from DOS prompt results in nothing. No action or message.
*I have deleted and restarted to reestablish the LPT1 port from device
manager.
*I have deleted the printer and reinstalled it.
*I have tried to start the spooler (NET START SPOOLER) from a DOS prompt.
*I have toggled all the port settings, one at a time, and restarted.
*I have scanned for viruses, spyware. Did a file cleanup (Temp files, etc).
*I have check BIOS settings and LPT1 is listed and set to Auto.
*I attempted a PrtScn while in CMOS setup using the Laserjet's "FormFeed"
function to print the ASCI dump. No luck.
Still no printer.

It seems I need a diagnostic to see if this is a hardware problem. Does
anyone know how to determine this?

Note: once, I simply reinstalled the drivers. Then when I tried to print the
test page the print que went into a kind of loop. Spooling - stopped -
spooling - stopped, that kind of thing, forever, until I canceled it. Never
did it again.
TIA
Click to expand...
I ran thoiugh the same routine , finally installed a parall PCI card
for the printer and the problem was gone. I believe the cable that
plugs into the motherboard parallel port caused a lot of strain on the
connector and broke something on the motherboard.
 
Rod Speed said:
I wouldnt unless you cant print from the knoppix CD.

And I'd also check that the port config hasnt changed in the bios too.
Click to expand...
The port config in BIOS is "Auto". It was unchanged. But I did try changing
it to "Enabled", which just engages legay IRQ7. No change. So I changed iot
back to default. There are no other LPT1 settings in my BIOS (other than
"Disable").
Where does one find a knoppix CD?
 
I ran thoiugh the same routine , finally installed a parall PCI card
for the printer and the problem was gone. I believe the cable that
plugs into the motherboard parallel port caused a lot of strain on the
connector and broke something on the motherboard.
Click to expand...

That's what I am thinking. I have a Rosewill card on it's way from Newegg as
I type.
It seems rather obvious at this point. And $14 beats a couple hundred any
day!
 
I've repaired dozens of LJ2Ps. Every single one of them
failed at the input circuit on the printer itself. It is a
small pc board just inside the printer, and it fails.
Time for new printer.

johns
 
johns said:
I've repaired dozens of LJ2Ps. Every single one of them
failed at the input circuit on the printer itself. It is a
small pc board just inside the printer, and it fails.
Time for new printer.
Click to expand...

Pity his printer works fine on a different system.
 
TVeblen said:
How do you test to see if the LPT1 port is functioning in hardware?
Would LPT1 fail alone or would the serial ports or other devices go with
it?
Can it be repaired?

Intel D865PERL MB
HP Laserjet IIP Plus
Canon MP780
Windows XP Home SP2

My Laserjet IIP Plus printer stopped working on this computer suddenly
after
many months of reliable service. When I try and print anything the printer
que icon in the system tray immediately shows a red X and a balloon
announces "This Document failed to print". Status: Error-Print.
This happens for every application, including "Print Test Page" for the
printer's properties under Printers & Faxes.
*I have connected the printer and the cable to another computer. They both
work fine.
*I have a second printer connected via USB. It prints fine from this
computer.
*I can't print to the Laserjet from a networked computer.
*Attempts to print from DOS prompt results in nothing. No action or
message.
*I have deleted and restarted to reestablish the LPT1 port from device
manager.
*I have deleted the printer and reinstalled it.
*I have tried to start the spooler (NET START SPOOLER) from a DOS prompt.
*I have toggled all the port settings, one at a time, and restarted.
*I have scanned for viruses, spyware. Did a file cleanup (Temp files,
etc).
*I have check BIOS settings and LPT1 is listed and set to Auto.
*I attempted a PrtScn while in CMOS setup using the Laserjet's "FormFeed"
function to print the ASCI dump. No luck.
Still no printer.

It seems I need a diagnostic to see if this is a hardware problem. Does
anyone know how to determine this?

Note: once, I simply reinstalled the drivers. Then when I tried to print
the
test page the print que went into a kind of loop. Spooling - stopped -
spooling - stopped, that kind of thing, forever, until I canceled it.
Never
did it again.
TIA
Click to expand...


I installed a Rosewill RC-302 PCI to Parallel port adapter card and
everything is working fine again - on LPT3.
That would probably prove that LPT1, the printer port on the main board is
dead. Meaning: no signal is being sent through the connection.
Can you test and repair a connection like that, or is it not worth the
effort?
If anyone here has any experience testing and/or repairing these things I'd
love to hear your thoughts.
 
TVeblen wrote:
I installed a Rosewill RC-302 PCI to Parallel port adapter card and
everything is working fine again - on LPT3.
That would probably prove that LPT1, the printer port on the main board is
dead. Meaning: no signal is being sent through the connection.
Can you test and repair a connection like that, or is it not worth the
effort?
If anyone here has any experience testing and/or repairing these things I'd
love to hear your thoughts.
Click to expand...

It's a set of I/O ports. Some are output ports, some input and some
bidirectional.

http://www.logix4u.net/parallelport1.htm

What you can do is to send a byte to an output port and see if the
hardware lines on the connector change state. More usually, you use a
loopback connector that takes these lines and connects them to input
port lines. Then you send a byte to the output port and see if it is
reflected in a change of state of the input port.

You can get diagnostic software that does all this for you and comes
with loopback connectors for the parallel (and serial) port.

Or, if you still have old DOS floppies, you can write a GWBasic program
in a few minutes that tests for free. Delphi, with the appropriate
libraries, will do the same job under XP, although it may take a little
longer to get to grips with.

Repairing the hardware used to be a doddle in the days of discrete
chips. The chip concerned then cost maybe 20p. These days, you either
replace the mobo or live with it ... and a PCI card.
 
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