XP print Event id 6161 error 31 with HP Officejet R40

[rpesq@my-deja.com]

Intermittently, I get the above error, and the only way to solve it has
been to reboot both the PC and the Officejet. I cannot find any
information about error 31 regarding Event ID 6161. Printer attached
via parallel to PC.

Any help is appreciated. This happens every couple days, sometimes
once a day. The printer is old (5+ years), and no drivers exist except
the default XP-supplied drivers.

All I do with this printer is print simple text documents and pdf
documents.

BTW, this problem occurs a LOT less under W2K. I had this printer
attached to an XP computer last year, and this same problem kept
happening. I attached it to a W2K SP4 PC for approx a year thereafter,
and it worked fine (maybe happened once or twice the entire year).

Recently connected it to a different XP PC this year, and now this
problem is happening again. Would like to solve or minimize the
problem. ** I strongly suspect this is a defective XP driver. ** A good
friend of mine has the EXACT same model (HP R40xi), and he has
complained of many print-related problems under XP until he finally
purchased a new multifunction printer.

Suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

[Alan Morris [MSFT]]

Not a clue on the robustness of the driver. Here's the information on win32
error 31. But that's not much additional information.
winerror 31
31 ERROR_GEN_FAILURE <--> 0xc0000001 STATUS_UNSUCCESSFUL

Have you changed the BIOS setting of the parallel port? Not sure what HP
recommends for the device. It's probably in the manual.


--
Alan Morris
Windows Printing Team
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];kbhowto

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Intermittently, I get the above error, and the only way to solve it has
> been to reboot both the PC and the Officejet. I cannot find any
> information about error 31 regarding Event ID 6161. Printer attached
> via parallel to PC.
>
> Any help is appreciated. This happens every couple days, sometimes
> once a day. The printer is old (5+ years), and no drivers exist except
> the default XP-supplied drivers.
>
> All I do with this printer is print simple text documents and pdf
> documents.
>
> BTW, this problem occurs a LOT less under W2K. I had this printer
> attached to an XP computer last year, and this same problem kept
> happening. I attached it to a W2K SP4 PC for approx a year thereafter,
> and it worked fine (maybe happened once or twice the entire year).
>
> Recently connected it to a different XP PC this year, and now this
> problem is happening again. Would like to solve or minimize the
> problem. ** I strongly suspect this is a defective XP driver. ** A good
> friend of mine has the EXACT same model (HP R40xi), and he has
> complained of many print-related problems under XP until he finally
> purchased a new multifunction printer.
>
> Suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
>

[rpesq@my-deja.com]

Hi Alan,
Yes, the Bios is set to ECP, which is correct for this model.

I have an old SMC Barricade router that has a parallel port built into
it. I might try network printing to see if that works better with this
unit. That would eliminate the HP driver issue.

[Chuck]

The problem may go away if you figure out how to disable the printer status
monitor.

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hi Alan,
> Yes, the Bios is set to ECP, which is correct for this model.
>
> I have an old SMC Barricade router that has a parallel port built into
> it. I might try network printing to see if that works better with this
> unit. That would eliminate the HP driver issue.
>

[halbarton]

" wrote:

> Intermittently, I get the above error, and the only way to solve it has
> been to reboot both the PC and the Officejet. I cannot find any
> information about error 31 regarding Event ID 6161. Printer attached
> via parallel to PC.
>
> Any help is appreciated. This happens every couple days, sometimes
> once a day. The printer is old (5+ years), and no drivers exist except
> the default XP-supplied drivers.
>
> All I do with this printer is print simple text documents and pdf
> documents.
>
> BTW, this problem occurs a LOT less under W2K. I had this printer
> attached to an XP computer last year, and this same problem kept
> happening. I attached it to a W2K SP4 PC for approx a year thereafter,
> and it worked fine (maybe happened once or twice the entire year).
>
> Recently connected it to a different XP PC this year, and now this
> problem is happening again. Would like to solve or minimize the
> problem. ** I strongly suspect this is a defective XP driver. ** A good
> friend of mine has the EXACT same model (HP R40xi), and he has
> complained of many print-related problems under XP until he finally
> purchased a new multifunction printer.
>
> Suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
>
>

[halbarton]

I have what I believe is an allied problem. If I have a printing failure
(e.g paper jam or out of paper), I am locked out of subsequent printing until
I reboot computer and printer. I suspect there is a problem in the way the
XP driver for the HP handles error feedback from the printer. I have not
been able to find a way to clear what seems to be a latched on error flag in
the XP driver. Clearing the printer queue doesn't do it.

" wrote:

> Intermittently, I get the above error, and the only way to solve it has
> been to reboot both the PC and the Officejet. I cannot find any
> information about error 31 regarding Event ID 6161. Printer attached
> via parallel to PC.
>
> Any help is appreciated. This happens every couple days, sometimes
> once a day. The printer is old (5+ years), and no drivers exist except
> the default XP-supplied drivers.
>
> All I do with this printer is print simple text documents and pdf
> documents.
>
> BTW, this problem occurs a LOT less under W2K. I had this printer
> attached to an XP computer last year, and this same problem kept
> happening. I attached it to a W2K SP4 PC for approx a year thereafter,
> and it worked fine (maybe happened once or twice the entire year).
>
> Recently connected it to a different XP PC this year, and now this
> problem is happening again. Would like to solve or minimize the
> problem. ** I strongly suspect this is a defective XP driver. ** A good
> friend of mine has the EXACT same model (HP R40xi), and he has
> complained of many print-related problems under XP until he finally
> purchased a new multifunction printer.
>
> Suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
>
>

[halbarton]

I think you are on the right track. I can't find nything in the printer
properties or setup to accomplish this.

"Chuck" wrote:

> The problem may go away if you figure out how to disable the printer status
> monitor.
>
> > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > Hi Alan,
> > Yes, the Bios is set to ECP, which is correct for this model.
> >
> > I have an old SMC Barricade router that has a parallel port built into
> > it. I might try network printing to see if that works better with this
> > unit. That would eliminate the HP driver issue.
> >
>
>
>