Old parallel printer only prints when it wants to

  • Thread starter Thread starter pgluth1
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pgluth1

A friend of mine has an old Win98se machine and is trying to attach an HP
Deskjet 400 to it. It prints the test page(s) fine, and will print from
Internet Explorer, but the "change cartridge" light comes on when
printing
from Adobe Acrobat or any MS Suite product. This does not change with a
fresh boot - the printer thinks for a second, then the light flashes - no
output.

I have tried:
1. Checked bios - the setting is on normal for the parallel port, not ECP
or EPP. Though for fun, I tried them too.

2. This is a genuine, non-refilled HP cartridge for this machine.

3. Reinstalled the cartridge and cleaned the connectors.

4. It doesn't matter on the size of the document. If I even try to print
a few characters (like "qwerty"), it still stops.

The manual says:
1. Bad cartridge - it's new and works in IE.
2. Gummed up slider bar - it's clean and works in IE.
3. Updated the drivers from the HP site.

Could it be as simple as a bad cable? If true, why would it print some
things and not others?
 
pgluth1 said:
A friend of mine has an old Win98se machine and is trying to attach an HP
Deskjet 400 to it. It prints the test page(s) fine, and will print from
Internet Explorer, but the "change cartridge" light comes on when
printing
from Adobe Acrobat or any MS Suite product. This does not change with a
fresh boot - the printer thinks for a second, then the light flashes - no
output.

I have tried:
1. Checked bios - the setting is on normal for the parallel port, not ECP
or EPP. Though for fun, I tried them too.

2. This is a genuine, non-refilled HP cartridge for this machine.

3. Reinstalled the cartridge and cleaned the connectors.

4. It doesn't matter on the size of the document. If I even try to print
a few characters (like "qwerty"), it still stops.

The manual says:
1. Bad cartridge - it's new and works in IE.
2. Gummed up slider bar - it's clean and works in IE.
3. Updated the drivers from the HP site.

Could it be as simple as a bad cable? If true, why would it print some
things and not others?
Click to expand...

Tried looking on HP site or using google?
 
Good suggestions all, however:

1. I am using the "official" driver from HP, updated roughly 2001 for
win98. Should I try the generic one?

2. I can only print one page in IE before the cartidge light starts
flashing. However, that page is perfect.

3. Scanned through the HP site for troubleshooting - tried google - both
for the web and "google groups" which catalogs usenet questions back a long
way. All the help points to driver, cartidge or damaged slider bar.

I will try the older driver, but this problem has really stumped me.
 
pgluth1 said:
Good suggestions all, however:

1. I am using the "official" driver from HP, updated roughly 2001 for
win98. Should I try the generic one?

2. I can only print one page in IE before the cartidge light starts
flashing. However, that page is perfect.

3. Scanned through the HP site for troubleshooting - tried google - both
for the web and "google groups" which catalogs usenet questions back a long
way. All the help points to driver, cartidge or damaged slider bar.

I will try the older driver, but this problem has really stumped me.
Click to expand...

It's been some time since I last had to deal with Win98SE, but one of
the characteristics of the OS was the generation of phantom devices that
could cause all kinds of problems. If you boot to Safe Mode, open
Device Manager, find the printer and ports. Make sure there is only one
printer listed and only one LPT1 port listed. If there are duplicate
entries, remove *all* of them and only one will be reinstalled on the
next normal boot.

Q
 
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