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#1
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Stramge printer problem
A few days ago my computer failed to print, printer didn't react. When I rebooted XP it worked fine. This happened for several days. Today, I turned on the printer before I turned on the computer. No problems printing today. Seems the computer seems to need to sense the printer's availability while it is booting. I can live with turning on the printer first but I'm not too sure how often this old man will remember to do this. Any ideas? TIA -- I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook. |
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#2
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Stramge printer problem
KenK wrote:
A few days ago my computer failed to print, printer didn't react. When I rebooted XP it worked fine. This happened for several days. Today, I turned on the printer before I turned on the computer. No problems printing today. Seems the computer seems to need to sense the printer's availability while it is booting. I can live with turning on the printer first but I'm not too sure how often this old man will remember to do this. Any ideas? Your printer driver associated utilities may have a 'tickler'. My printer on an XP USB is a Canon. There's an icon in my notification area that lets me know its status or troubleshooting or settings. So, if it were acting up like not printing, I could use that to see the queue or troubleshoot. You might get more info by reporting your printer modelno and connection. -- Mike Easter |
#3
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Stramge printer problem
KenK wrote:
A few days ago my computer failed to print, printer didn't react. When I rebooted XP it worked fine. This happened for several days. Today, I turned on the printer before I turned on the computer. No problems printing today. Seems the computer seems to need to sense the printer's availability while it is booting. I can live with turning on the printer first but I'm not too sure how often this old man will remember to do this. Some printers have only 1-way communication (OS/driver to printer) while some have 2-way communication (the printer can report status, like its power state, out of paper, low on ink, etc). Is this a secret printer and why you did not divulge the brand and model? Troubleshooting vague hardware is an exercise in futility. You didn't even mention if the printer is accessed via USB cable, Centronix serial cable, or over a network. What is it? How is it connected? The OS doesn't detect the printer if it is off while the OS boots and even after the OS boots and then turning on the printer. Have you check after booting the OS and then powering on the printer if scanning for new hardware finds the printer? If connected via USB cable, it's possible the USB enumeration data in the registry got corrupted. I've run into that before, and had to delete the USB enumeration data for the device (which there may be more than one if the USB device was plugged into more than one USB port). Deleting USB enumeration data using regedit can be quite the exercise, especially due to tiered permissions that you have to undo walking down a branch and then delete as you walk back up. Easier might be using Nirsoft's USB Device Viewer which, as I recall, lets you delete/uninstall USB enumeration data from the registry. https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html You could uninstall the printer and reinstall it, but that rarely removes the old USB enumeration data from prior use. Installers create a log that gets used during the uninstall. The OS creates the enumeration data upon use of the USB device, and that is independent of anything the installer would save in its log file. |
#4
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Stramge printer problem
In message , KenK
writes: A few days ago my computer failed to print, printer didn't react. When I rebooted XP it worked fine. This happened for several days. Today, I turned on the printer before I turned on the computer. No problems printing today. Seems the computer seems to need to sense the printer's availability while it is booting. I can live with turning on the printer first but I'm not too sure how often this old man will remember to do this. Any ideas? TIA Could you just leave the printer turned on? (Not if it's an inkjet unless you're sure it won't do self-cleaning every day.) -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf The early worm gets the bird. |
#5
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Stramge printer problem
On 15 Oct 2019 17:39:35 GMT, KenK wrote:
A few days ago my computer failed to print, printer didn't react. When I rebooted XP it worked fine. This happened for several days. Today, I turned on the printer before I turned on the computer. No problems printing today. Seems the computer seems to need to sense the printer's availability while it is booting. I can live with turning on the printer first but I'm not too sure how often this old man will remember to do this. Any ideas? TIA When I wasn't leaving my machines on 24/7 I had them on a strip so the I/O came up with the strip before I booted the machine. I also have a gadget I use with my smart TV for the back light, sound bar and USB drive. It is an SSR in a handy box with receptacles. The SSR is triggered with the 5v from the USB port and turns on everything that is plugged in when the TV comes on. A USB port on a PC would do the same. |
#6
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Stramge printer problem
KenK wrote:
A few days ago my computer failed to print, printer didn't react. When I rebooted XP it worked fine. This happened for several days. Today, I turned on the printer before I turned on the computer. No problems printing today. Seems the computer seems to need to sense the printer's availability while it is booting. I can live with turning on the printer first but I'm not too sure how often this old man will remember to do this. Any ideas? TIA I wonder if this has something to do with the state the spooler is in ? Do you have any documents "jammed" in the spooler queue ? In Control Panels, open the Printers and check the printer in question, to see if there is something weird going on in there. Paul |
#7
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Stramge printer problem
KenK wrote in
: A few days ago my computer failed to print, printer didn't react. When I rebooted XP it worked fine. This happened for several days. Today, I turned on the printer before I turned on the computer. No problems printing today. Seems the computer seems to need to sense the printer's availability while it is booting. I can live with turning on the printer first but I'm not too sure how often this old man will remember to do this. Any ideas? TIA For those who asked: Brother HL-2240 USB connection to computer -- I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook. |
#8
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Stramge printer problem
KenK wrote:
For those who asked: Brother HL-2240 USB connection to computer While not mentioned by you, have you installed the software that came with or you can download for that printer? So far, all we know is you attached the USB printer, but nothing about whether or not its software ever got installed (from the printer maker rather than embedded drivers that might be included in Windows). https://support.brother.com/g/b/down...d=hl2240_us_eu Since you said just "Windows XP", that means the 32-bit version (versus the 64-bit version known as Windows XP x64). Make sure you get the 32-bit drivers. The bitwidth of drivers must match the bitwidth of the OS. Have you yet tried uninstalling the printer and then follow the manual's instructions to install the software/drivers for that printer? That is, uninstall and reinstall. With the printer powered off during a boot of Windows, and after Windows has finished loading, have you checked if scanning for new hardware finds the printer? Go into Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) and use its Action - Scan for hardware changes menu, then look under the Printers tree node to see if the printer got discovered. Other than mouse or keyboard, unplug all other USB devices except the printer, reboot, and check if the printer is then detected upon Windows startup. Have you tried moving the printer to a different USB port (which generates a new USB enumeration record, but the old USB enumeration will remain for the prior port)? I mention about having to delete old USB enumeration records in the registry that might've gotten corrupted. Moving to a different USB port creates a new USB enum record. If that works, you should delete the old USB enum record for the prior port, so you don't get stuck with it not working again should you later move the printer back to that prior USB port. |
#9
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Stramge printer problem
KenK wrote:
Brother HL-2240 USB connection to computer There's a status monitor. https://support.brother.com/g/b/faqe...cannot%20print The manual p.38 says you can activate it from Start/ All Programs/ Brother/ Status Monitor. There's also a control panel lights described in manual Ch 3 pp 53-60. -- Mike Easter |
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