Table of Contents

Printer Guide

1. Bi-directional Communication
2. Windows 95/98
3. Windows 3.1x
4. Print Spooling
5. HP DeskJet printers
6. Epson Stylus 500
7. Lexmark 2030, 2050, 2070
8. What do I do if this does not solve the situation?

For general troubleshooting questions, click here or for other options, call our Technical Support department at  .

Printer Questions & Problems:

Scanner Models: All Flatbed Scanners

Problem: When I connect the scanner and my printer together either scanner or the printer stops working correctly.

Solution:

This document contains general information for all printers and solutions for some specific printers. If your printer is not listed you should refer to its documentation on how to make the changes discussed.

When a conflict occurs it is usually because something on system is intercepting or disturbing the message for the malfunctioning device. This may be related hardware. Switch boxes and long cable run can cause the signals to either be blocked or distorted. If you are using a switch box or have more than twelve feet of cable between the computer and the printer see if removing them fixes the problem. If this fixes the problem then your current setup may not be possible with the scanner. You can contact technical support for information on other possible connection options.

Bi-directional Communication

Most ink-jet and laser printer on the market today are bi-directional. This means that they send information from the printer to their controlling software, on your computer, about the current state of the printer. This information is not being received or recognized by your printer. By turning off the bi-directional communication options you can remedy most printer problems.

If there is not a section for your printer below you should refer to your documentation on how to turn off the bi-directional printing options. The following are general guidelines for disabling bi-directional communication in Windows.

Windows 95 / 98

1. Click on the Start button. Select Settings from the menu and Printers from the Settings submenu.
2. Click using the Right mouse button on the icon for your printer. Select properties for the bottom of the popup list.
3. In the Printer's Properties page click on the Details tab.
4. On the details page click on the Spool Settings button. It is on the lower left hand-side of the page.
5. If available select the option to Disable bi-directional support for this printer.
6. Click on the OK button.
7. From the Details page click on the Port Settings button. It is located on the lower right-hand side of the page.
8. Set the Check port state before printing and the Spool MS-DOS print jobs so that they are not selected.
9. Click on the OK button for the Configure LPT Port page and the Printer Properties page.

Windows 3.1x

1. Locate the icon for Main in the Program Manager and double click on it.
2. Double on the icon for the Control Panel.
3. Double on the Printers icon in the Control Panel.
4. Select your Printer from the list on the left side of the window.
5. Click on the Connect button.
6. Under Ports select LPTX.DOS where X is the number of the current parallel port your are using (i.e. LPT1, X=1).
7. Click on the OK button in the Connect window.
8. Close the printer's window and the Control Panel.

Print Spooling

Print spooling can also be the source of a printer problem, particularly with the Action Manager's Copy Utility. If your printer has it own print spooler try disabling it and using the Windows Print Manager. With some printers (for example the Epson 500) this is the way you would disable bi-directional communication. If you are using Windows 95 or 98 you should also change the data format and print order being used for spooling. To change the spooling data format and print order follow the steps below.

1. Click on the Start button. Select Settings from the menu and Printers from the Settings submenu.
2. Click using the Right mouse button on the icon for your printer. Select properties for the bottom of the popup list.
3. In the Printer's Properties page click on the tab for Details.
4. On the details page click on the Spool Settings button. It is on the lower left hand-side of the page.
5. On the Spool setting page select Start printing after last page is spooled and change the Spool data format to RAW.
6. Close the Spool Settings page and the printer properties window.