Troubleshooting Printer Problems

Possible causes:

Printer problems can be caused by many things:

• The cable may be loose or defective.
• The printer driver may not be properly installed or the drivers may be corrupt.
• The application that you are trying to print from may not be configured with your specific printer.
• There may be something in the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS file that is conflicting with your printer.
• Your specific printer may not be configured as the default printer in Windows.
• The LPT1 port may not be enabled in CMOS.
• The printer may be unable to perform a self-test.

Basic Troubleshooting Procedures:

These basic troubleshooting steps may resolve or more accurately diagnose numerous printer problems and can be used with most printers.

Perform a self-test on the printer -- It is important to insure that the printer will perform a self-test. This isolates the problem to something other than the operation of the printer itself. Refer to your ownerís manual on how to perform a self-test on your specific printer. If the printer fails to do a self-test, try disconnecting it from the system or if possible, try the printer hooked to another system.

Check the LPT1 settings in CMOS -- If the printer port is not properly identified in CMOS, the printer may not function properly and you may receive errors when trying to print. Check your Userís Guide on how to enter CMOS. Once in the Setup utility, locate the LPT1 settings. The address setting for the LPT1 port should be 3BCh or 378h depending on what kind of video card you have. The IRQ setting for the port should be 7 and LPT1 should be enabled in order for the printer to print correctly.

Check the cable connection on the printer and the computer -- Make sure the parallel cable is connected securely to the printer as well as the computer system. If possible, try another printer cable to ensure that the cable is not defective.

Make sure that the printer drivers are installed -- If the printer that you are using is not set as the default printer in Windows or the printer driver is not installed, the printer may print garbled characters. You may also receive errors when you attempt to print from applications.

Resolving Printer Problems:

LPT1 settings in CMOS -- Enter the CMOS screens by the method outlined in your Userís Manual. Go to the section where the LPT port is identified. Make sure that the port is enabled and the port address is set correctly. The address for the LPT port should be set at 3BCh unless you have one of the following video cards/chipsets: Matrox, ATI Mach64, STB 1MB Horizon, STB 2MB Powergraph, or an Aries integrated PCI system. If you have one of these video cards/chipsets, the video is using the address 3BCh, so the LPT port will use the address of 378h. Once you have checked these settings and changed anything that required it, exit CMOS and reboot the system.

Software conflict -- To insure that there is no conflict with another software application, boot the system clean. If you do not know how to do this see document # 1900. Once you have booted clean, type:

copy config.sys lpt1

and press Enter. If the printer is a laser printer and you are unable to print, you may want to type:

mode lpt1:,,p

and press Enter before you type:

copy config.sys lpt1

The mode statement tells the system to use LPT1 for its default printer port. The two commas specify no change in columns or lines, and the P switch tells the system to infinitely retry sending information to LPT1 until the printer responds.

If the printer responds and the characters are not garbled, the problem may be a software conflict with a setting in the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS. Call Technical Support to help you resolve this problem.

Third party applications -- If you are able to print from MS-DOS and Windows applications but not from applications that you purchased elsewhere, makes sure that the printer is configured within that application. If you are unsure how to do this, call the manufacturer or distributor of that application.

Windows printer driver installation -- If you are receiving garbled output from your printer when trying to print in Windows, make sure that the printer you have is configured as the default printer and the drivers are installed. From the Program Manager, double click on the Main group. Double click on the Control Panel icon, then double click on the Printers icon. In the Installed Printers section, highlight the printer that you have on your system then click the Set As Default Printer. If the printer that you have is not on the Installed Printers list, click on the Add button. Below the list of Installed Printers, a List of Printers will appear. Scroll through this list to find your printer or an emulation for the printer that you can find in the ownerís manual. Once you have located the printer you want, click on it so it is highlighted and click on the Install button. Another window will open up and prompt you to Insert the Microsoft Windows disk # ... If you have Windows diskettes, insert the diskette that is being asked for. If you have Windows on the Gateway 2000 System CD, press the Delete key on the keyboard to remove the A:\> prompt from the box and type in D:\WINDOWS OR D:\WFW311 depending on which version of the System CD you have. Click the OK button so the drivers load. Once the applicable drivers are installed, the screen will return to the Printers window. Click on the printer you just installed to highlight it, click on the Set As Default Printer button, then close the Printer window. Your printer is now installed in Windows.

If the printer that you are using does not appear on the List of Printers to install, check the Userís Manual for your specific printer. It will contains installation notes or emulations for your printer.

Loose or defective cable -- If the drivers are configured correctly and you are unable to print after booting clean, the problem may be the cable connecting the printer to the computer or the connection between the LPT port and the system board. Power the system off and reseat the parallel cable on the printer and the back of the computer. Power the system back on and try printing again. If you have a full size desktop system or tower system, continue with the following procedure. Power the system off, remove the case screws from the rear of the system, and remove the outer case. Identify the cable on the inside of the system that corresponds with where the printer is attached on the outside of the system. Gently pull the gray ribbon off the system board and put it back on the system board firmly (pull the connector, not the cable). Power the system back on and attempt to print again.

Error Messages:

1. The printer is off-line or not selected -- Make sure that your specific printer is selected as the default printer in Windows or the specific application that you are printing from. Insure that the printer is on-line and the cable is properly connected.

2. Write fault error writing device. Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail? -- Make sure that the LPT port is identified correctly in CMOS and the internal and external cables on the printer port are correctly connected.

3. Cannot locate printer on LPT port. -- This error usually occurs if you have plugged the printer into the wrong port on the back of the computer or the default printer in Windows is selected incorrectly. Make sure that the cable is connected correctly on the printer and computer and the printer are turned on.

4. Printer is out of paper or not connected. -- Check that there is paper in the printer and that the paper is not jammed in the printer. Make sure that the printer has not become disconnected or powered down.

If you are still unable to print, contact Technical Support for further assistance.

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