Please help

  • Thread starter Thread starter Groggy
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Groggy

I have an old Pentium II mmx 350 mhz (cannot afford a newer one) who seems
not to support bidirectional printing to the point that my Lexmark Z 602 got
damaged. Is there a way to intervene on the bios so as not to go broke
damaging still another printer? By the way, the new Lexmarks require
bidirectional printing to function.
If nothing can be done with the bios, does anyone know of a cheap printer
that functions without bidirectional printing? Grateful for any answer
ringrazio.
Riccardo Romano
 
Groggy said:
I have an old Pentium II mmx 350 mhz (cannot afford a newer one) who seems
not to support bidirectional printing
Click to expand...

I presume you are using a parallel cable, and your parallel port does not
support bidirectional communication. You could add another, more compatible
parallel port to your computer by buying a pci card with parallel port. This
should be under $20 if you look around. Alternatively, if your OS supports
it, you could buy a pci card to add USB support to your computer. Again,
under $20 if you look around. Most printers have USB ports now. Also, I'm
not sure lack of a bidirectional port would damage a printer. Many times,
the data back to the computer just consists of error messages like "Out of
Paper" or "Ink Low". If the printer worked for awhile on your existing
port, its not the port that killed it.
[/QUOTE]
 
I haven't seen a LPT port that wasn't BiDirectional for a long time. Go
into setup when your machine first boots. Look for a heading like
"Advanced", "Peripheral", or ChipSet". There you will be able to set up the
LPT port as BiDi, ECP, or EPP. DO whatever Lexmark recommends for your
particular printer. If unsure, select ECP.

Also - check your cable to see if it has the words "IEEE1284" printed on it.
If not, it may or may bot be compatible with your printer. There is
argument as to whether IEEE1284 is really a requirement or a marketing
strategy. But for a newer parallel machine, I'd be sure to have one.
They're inexpensive.

I can't imagine how a LPT configuration issue could mechanically or
electrically damage a printer. Doesn't sound right to me. Set it all up &
see if it works OK.


Groggy wrote in message ...
 
Bob Kos said:
I haven't seen a LPT port that wasn't BiDirectional for a long time. Go
into setup when your machine first boots. Look for a heading like
"Advanced", "Peripheral", or ChipSet". There you will be able to set up the
LPT port as BiDi, ECP, or EPP. DO whatever Lexmark recommends for your
particular printer. If unsure, select ECP.

Also - check your cable to see if it has the words "IEEE1284" printed on it.
If not, it may or may bot be compatible with your printer. There is
argument as to whether IEEE1284 is really a requirement or a marketing
strategy. But for a newer parallel machine, I'd be sure to have one.
They're inexpensive.

I can't imagine how a LPT configuration issue could mechanically or
electrically damage a printer. Doesn't sound right to me. Set it all up &
see if it works OK.


Groggy wrote in message ...
Click to expand...

I would follow the advice Mike and Bob are offerring.

-Any Pentium II class machine will support bi-directional printing.
-A printer port, bi-directional or not, will not cause damage to a
printer.
-The BIOS setting should be for ECP, this should support any of the
LexMark printers, and most others for that matter.

Case in point: I just finished reformatting and reinstalling Windows
98SE on and IBM 300PL, 350Mhz Pentium II. I then installed a brand
new LexMark X75 and it prints great. The only difference being the
LexMark X75 was installed via a USB cable as opposed to a parallel
cable.

It is important to note that the printer cable you use should be
IEEE1284 compliant. But, I doubt you can purchase one today at retail
that is not IEEE1284 compliant. So far as I know they quit making
non-compliant cables in 1996 when just about all printers began
requiring bi-directional capability.
 
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