Trouble with DOS Printing (AREV Specific)
At 19 DEC 2003 06:26:19PM Donald Bakke wrote:
This isn't a problem with AREV per se, but this is coming to us from an AREV client who is out of state and therefore we aren't able to offer direct hardware support.
Background
Client runs AREV 2.1 application in Win98SE environment. She uses an Epson dotmatrix and an HP laserjet printer which she has connected to an A/B switch. There are different forms and reports which are designed for each printer. This system has been functional for years.
Problem
All of a sudden, the client can no longer print to the Epson printer from AREV (or DOS for that matter.) Through a phone support call we were able to make these observations:
1. Printing to HP from Windows is fine.
2. Printing to Epson from Windows is fine.
3. Printing to HP from DOS is fine.
4. Printing to Epson from DOS is not fine.
5. Swapping the ports in the A/B switch does not make a difference.
6. Swapping printer cables does not make a difference.
So what can cause a DOS print job to fail for a specific printer while Windows has no problems at all? Any hints would be appreciated. This is a small business/hobbiest and we try to help for little or no cost as much as possible. I am trying to help her avoid the need to hire a hardware specialist.
Thanks,
At 20 DEC 2003 01:58AM Richard Hunt wrote:
Donald,
I do know one thing about that 2 printer (HP and Dotmatrix) configuration…
If the Dotmatrix printer gets sent HP printer control codes, the dotmatrix printer will like die. Then it will need a power down/up reset.
At 20 DEC 2003 02:22AM Donald Bakke wrote:
Richard,
That was my guess as well but it was still able to print from Windows without any problems. Plus, the client claimed to have restarted all devices.
At 20 DEC 2003 04:28AM [url=http://www.sprezzatura.com]The Sprezzatura Group[/url] wrote:
Don - sorry to ask such an obvious question but she hasn't swapped it out to a Windows only Dot Matrix (if such things exist) without telling you has she?
Are we saying that if she wires the dot matrix directly to the lpta and at CMD does a
COPY CON PRN
Hello World
L that nothing happens on the printer?
World Leaders in all things RevSoft
At 20 DEC 2003 11:27AM Ray Chan wrote:
Don,
You may have done this and/or this problem may be resolved, but in addition to turning the printer off/on, have they unplugged the paralled cable from the printer and plugging it back in.
This may be "voodoo" I seem to remember a long time that we did something like this in a similar situation. Heck I'm sure you PC has been rebooted as well. Oh yes, anything stuck in the print queue?
Ray
At 20 DEC 2003 11:44AM Donald Bakke wrote:
Sprezz,
…sorry to ask such an obvious question…
No problem. I'd welcome an obvious question if it solved the problem!
…but she hasn't swapped it out to a Windows only Dot Matrix (if such things exist) without telling you has she?
No. This is hardware that has been in place for a few years. In fact, the way we became her client was because her dot matrix was originally an Okidata but it broke down and she bought the Epson. She didn't realize that her application was hard-coded for the Okidata. By this time she no longer had contact with the original programmer so she found us. We updated the system to support the Epson and it was working fine from that point forward.
Are we saying that if she wires the dot matrix directly to the lpta and at CMD does a COPY CON PRN Hello World ^L^Z that nothing happens on the printer?
She has not directly connected her printer to the parallel port because she is a bit elderly and she would have to move furniture around to do this. But she was able to swap cables between the HP and Epson (the ones that connect them to the A/B switch) to make sure they are okay.
We had her test by running the CMD prompt within Windows (as well as restart in command mode) and doing the following:
1. DIR ] LPT1
2. Run EDIT, enter some text, Alt-File-Print
In both situations the HP would receive the text but the Epson wouldn't even blink.
At 20 DEC 2003 11:47AM Donald Bakke wrote:
Ray,
Heck I'm sure you PC has been rebooted as well.
All devices have been turned off and on. No joy.
Oh yes, anything stuck in the print queue?
No…otherwise I doubt the Windows print tests would have worked.
At 20 DEC 2003 12:22PM Richard Hunt wrote:
Don,
Last thing I have…
A customer of mine has an Epson LQ-570e. Had similar problems. They reminded me that resetting the printer and then manually resetting the font to "draft", on the control panel… seemed to solve their problem.
At 20 DEC 2003 06:52PM Steve Smith wrote:
A/B switch is probably faulty - my tip.
ECHO ^L]LPT1
from the DOS prompt will test the printer connection - ejecting a blank page. (^L is actually Ctrl-L)
Steve
At 21 DEC 2003 05:30AM Richard Wilson wrote:
It sounds like most generic fixes have already been suggested.
Is it possible that the emulation setup has changed during power up/down of the printer , say maybe to ibm proprinter or whatever.
Rich
At 22 DEC 2003 01:32PM Victor Engel wrote:
You didn't state whether different drivers were used in addition to the a/b switch being set to toggle the printers. It's possible that for some reason a new driver was installed for the Epson printer and that it wasn't set up to print for DOS applications. To fix this, deleted the Epson driver and reinstall it again, making sure to check the setting that asks if you are printing from DOS applications.
At 22 DEC 2003 02:25PM Warren wrote:
Did she swap the cables on the A/B switch side, the printer side or both?
Does Windows/DOS come back with an printer error when sent to the Epson or does the data just 'vanish'?
What happens if she reboots into MS-DOS or command prompt mode only?
At 22 DEC 2003 02:41PM Donald Bakke wrote:
Warren, et al.,
Did she swap the cables on the A/B switch side, the printer side or both?
Both. That was done in items #5 and #6 in my original post.
Does Windows/DOS come back with an printer error when sent to the Epson or does the data just 'vanish'?
Just disappears into the bit-bucket in the sky. No error messages at all.
What happens if she reboots into MS-DOS or command prompt mode only?
Exact same results. In fact, her application runs in this mode by default. I tried this from a command prompt within Windows as well. No difference.
Having said all that, I contacted her this morning to let her know that most likely the A/B switch might be at fault. She told me that this morning it started to work again (go figure.) I said, "great" but also advised her that this might very well come back and if it does it probably means a faulty switch or cable.
Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and responses to this.