network printer often disconnects

[Maverik]

Hi,
I have a HP PSC Photosmart, installed as a network printer.
There is only one computer accessing it. The computer (XP Home) and the
printer are connected via a router/gateway.

Quite often the printer "disconnects": when I try to print I receive the
message:

"The Print spooler was unable to connect to your printer. This is caused by
your printer being turned off, the cable being unplugged, or being
connected to a VPN, which will block your access to your local network."

I have no VPN, the printer is on, and the cable is connected.

On my router I see that the LED for the ethernet connection to my printer is
off, although the cable is connected and the printer is on. It works again
after some reinstall and reboot cycles. Until the next time.

Please please suggest how I can fix this annoyance.

 

[Bob I]

USB port powering off perhaps? Check the USB hub Power Management in
Device Manager.

 

[slmndr]

I am having the same problem. Just like Maverik, my printer is not connected via USB, it is connected via CAT 5 to a router.

I found this in another forum:

Some possible solutions:
1st one-- Change the port from the HP Standard TCP/IP Port to the MS Standard TCP/IP Port.

2nd one-- This one definitely worked for a while but was not the true solution. If you choose to not change the HP Standard Port then change the following registry key:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors\HP Standard TCP/IP Port\Ports\IP_X.X.X.X\NetworkTimeout to a larger value (in minutes).

I haven't had a chance to try them yet, but will post back to let you know.

-slmndr

USB port powering off perhaps? Check the USB hub Power Management in
Device Manager.

Maverik wrote:

> Hi,
> I have a HP PSC Photosmart, installed as a network printer.
> There is only one computer accessing it. The computer (XP Home) and the
> printer are connected via a router/gateway.
>
> Quite often the printer "disconnects": when I try to print I receive the
> message:
>
> "The Print spooler was unable to connect to your printer. This is caused by
> your printer being turned off, the cable being unplugged, or being
> connected to a VPN, which will block your access to your local network."
>
> I have no VPN, the printer is on, and the cable is connected.
>
> On my router I see that the LED for the ethernet connection to my printer is
> off, although the cable is connected and the printer is on. It works again
> after some reinstall and reboot cycles. Until the next time.
>
> Please please suggest how I can fix this annoyance.
>