Guest h.stroph Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 I am unable to get printing with either an HP Deskjet 1120C or a Deskjet 870Cxi with Windows 2000 SP4. The printers install successfully to LPT1, jobs get spooled then print as a couple lines of gibberish followed by one edge of the paper with similar characters. HP states the latest drivers are part of Windows 2000, but apparently they are not really functional. Can somebody walk me through the diagnostics necessary for the currently-connected 870Cxi, please? I really need a functioning printer asap, and thought I couldn't go wrong with a name-brand like HP, but have spent 4 days thrashing around with the problem to no avail. Thanks for your help.
Guest DL Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Re: HP Deskjet problem Did you follow HP's installation instructions, which is usually to install their software from supplied cd, and connecting the printer only when advised to do so? "h.stroph" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message news:g12r6a$2oe$1@aioe.org... >I am unable to get printing with either an HP Deskjet 1120C or a Deskjet > 870Cxi with Windows 2000 SP4. The printers install successfully to LPT1, > jobs get spooled then print as a couple lines of gibberish followed by one > edge of the paper with similar characters. > > HP states the latest drivers are part of Windows 2000, but apparently they > are not really functional. > > Can somebody walk me through the diagnostics necessary for the > currently-connected 870Cxi, please? I really need a functioning printer > asap, and thought I couldn't go wrong with a name-brand like HP, but have > spent 4 days thrashing around with the problem to no avail. > > Thanks for your help. > >
Guest h.stroph Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Re: HP Deskjet problem In news:uxo9gG%23uIHA.1328@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl, DL <address@invalid> typed: > Did you follow HP's installation instructions, which is usually to > install their software from supplied cd, and connecting the printer > only when advised to do so? The installation instructions provided by HP for Windows 2000 and the DeskJet 870Cxi are on the web, and they say absolutely no such thing as you describe. The only driver is contained within the Windows 2000 itself, and the parallel cable must be connected before creating the printer in the Control Panel. All instructions were followed multiple times, and each time the printer fails to print even a correct test page.
Guest Bob I Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Re: HP Deskjet problem First go back to HP and download the drivers for these printers for Windows 2000 operating system. Install them. Try printing again. If the same giberish appears on both printers, replace the printer cable with one you know works as you may have a broken connector. But get the HP drivers first. h.stroph wrote: > I am unable to get printing with either an HP Deskjet 1120C or a Deskjet > 870Cxi with Windows 2000 SP4. The printers install successfully to LPT1, > jobs get spooled then print as a couple lines of gibberish followed by one > edge of the paper with similar characters. > > HP states the latest drivers are part of Windows 2000, but apparently they > are not really functional. > > Can somebody walk me through the diagnostics necessary for the > currently-connected 870Cxi, please? I really need a functioning printer > asap, and thought I couldn't go wrong with a name-brand like HP, but have > spent 4 days thrashing around with the problem to no avail. > > Thanks for your help. > >
Guest h.stroph Posted May 22, 2008 Posted May 22, 2008 Re: HP Deskjet problem In news:g12r6a$2oe$1@aioe.org, h.stroph <me@privacy.net> typed: > I am unable to get printing with either an HP Deskjet 1120C or a > Deskjet 870Cxi with Windows 2000 SP4. The printers install > successfully to LPT1, jobs get spooled then print as a couple lines > of gibberish followed by one edge of the paper with similar > characters. The problem was resolved by uninstalling the LPT1 port in Device manage, then rebooting. Subsequent printing using the installed Deskjet 870Cxi works perfectly.
Guest Neil Gould Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Re: HP Deskjet problem Recently, h.stroph <me@privacy.net> posted: > In news:g12r6a$2oe$1@aioe.org, > h.stroph <me@privacy.net> typed: > >> I am unable to get printing with either an HP Deskjet 1120C or a >> Deskjet 870Cxi with Windows 2000 SP4. The printers install >> successfully to LPT1, jobs get spooled then print as a couple lines >> of gibberish followed by one edge of the paper with similar >> characters. > > The problem was resolved by uninstalling the LPT1 port in Device > manage, then rebooting. Subsequent printing using the installed > Deskjet 870Cxi works perfectly. > So... what port is it using if LPT1 no longer exists? Inquiring minds want to know! ;-) Neil
Guest h.stroph Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Re: HP Deskjet problem In news:%23%232zFeMvIHA.6096@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl, Neil Gould <neil@terratu.com> typed: >> The problem was resolved by uninstalling the LPT1 port in Device >> manage, then rebooting. Subsequent printing using the installed >> Deskjet 870Cxi works perfectly. >> > So... what port is it using if LPT1 no longer exists? Inquiring minds > want to know! ;-) Because LPT1 was already the defined port that the installed printer was using, it was re-installed at boot time (apparently). The hP support person had me print a test page from the printer console buttons, which worked properly, so we knew the printer worked. He then had me replave the parallel cable with a spare hi-quality Belkin cable that I had, and the same gibberish was printed from the MS test page in Printer Control Panel, so the next diagnostic was to uninstall the LPT1 port from the Device Manager and reboot. After the reboot, the LPT1 port was still there, so I assume it was re-installed as a required component at boot time, and the printer worked flawlessly after the boot with no additional effort.
Guest h.stroph Posted May 23, 2008 Posted May 23, 2008 Re: HP Deskjet problem In news:g17086$3dk$1@aioe.org, I typed: >>> The problem was resolved by uninstalling the LPT1 port in Device >>> manage, then rebooting. Subsequent printing using the installed >>> Deskjet 870Cxi works perfectly. >>> >> So... what port is it using if LPT1 no longer exists? Inquiring minds >> want to know! ;-) > > Because LPT1 was already the defined port that the installed printer > was using, it was re-installed at boot time (apparently). > > The hP support person had me print a test page from the printer > console buttons, which worked properly, so we knew the printer > worked. He then had me replave the parallel cable with a spare > hi-quality Belkin cable that I had, and the same gibberish was > printed from the MS test page in Printer Control Panel, so the next > diagnostic was to uninstall the LPT1 port from the Device Manager and > reboot. > > After the reboot, the LPT1 port was still there, so I assume it was > re-installed as a required component at boot time, and the printer > worked flawlessly after the boot with no additional effort. I'll add that the same problem occurred when installing diferent Deskjet printers (870Cxi and 1120C) locally on different Windows 2000 machines, both of which had the exact same printing resolved by uninstalling the LPT1 port (after creating the Printer) and rebooting. Whether the problem is in the HP/MS printer drivers or the Windows 2000 LPT1 software port definition/structure or a synergy of both is a matter best determined by those more knowledgeable than I. I'm glad I discovered it though, and wish I could have made it available to all the others who experienced the same problem over the years, as indicated by a newsgroup archive search.
Guest Bruce Lautenschlager Posted June 3, 2008 Posted June 3, 2008 Re: HP Deskjet problem At one time our only corporate allowed personal inkjet printer was the 870Cxi printer series - we probably had 25 or so (all running under Windows 2000). Never had a problem like that - always used the downloaded driver from the HP website. Of course, this was 7 or more years ago - only a few are still around - maybe the driver is the difference - but this was a relatively problem free printer, at least for driver and installation purposes (maintenance fell to someone else), hence it was the first small inkjet we ever approved for our enterprise - this is from a very conservative environment (that strongly discourages anything less than enterprise class lasers). Bruce > I'll add that the same problem occurred when installing diferent Deskjet > printers (870Cxi and 1120C) locally on different Windows 2000 machines, > both > of which had the exact same printing resolved by uninstalling the LPT1 > port > (after creating the Printer) and rebooting. > > Whether the problem is in the HP/MS printer drivers or the Windows 2000 > LPT1 > software port definition/structure or a synergy of both is a matter best > determined by those more knowledgeable than I. I'm glad I discovered it > though, and wish I could have made it available to all the others who > experienced the same problem over the years, as indicated by a newsgroup > archive search. > >
Recommended Posts