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Home > Archive > alt.certification.a-plus > April 2005 > General USB Printer setup question, and situation-specific question
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General USB Printer setup question, and situation-specific question
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| smackedass 2005-04-06, 2:29 pm |
| Hello again,
I'm still not totally down on this thing with USB printers; it seems, I am
told, that before you actually attach the USB printing device to the
computer, you have to install the software to the point where the USB
drivers won't be confused by the connected USB port.
Firstly, am I correct about that? Now...
A friend has a Lexmark 84-85 all-in-one. Keeps getting message,
"Communication problem with printer". I deleted the printer, and
re-installed the driver; during the installation process, there was an entry
on the "What kind of port are you using for the printer?" dialog box. I
chose USB. It seemed to install ok, but I was still getting the same error
message.
On the Lexmark site, there is a specific patch for this printer, when it's
used on an XP box that has multiple user profiles and/or uses sleep or
hibernation mode (my friend does both).
I ran the patch. No avail. There is also a utility that will totally
uninstall the driver for this printing device (must be a faulty driver); I
ran that; now the driver was totally uninstalled, apparently, even all of
the Registry entries are probably gone.
Now, to get back to my first question: in the XP printer setup wizard, if
you're not plugging the USB cable into the computer (as, I understand,
you're not supposed to), when it gets to the dialog box about what kind of
port you're going to install the printer into, there is NO ENTRY FOR USB. I
tried to fool it by going with LPT, and then, "Other Port", but no go.
When I go to "Have Disk", and browse to the folder that has the new driver
that I just downloaded from Lexmark, it says "The driver is not in the
specified location".
How do you plug-and-play install a USB printer if "USB port" is not among
the "Local Printer" choices?
Thanks, in advance.
smackedass
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"smackedass" <nospamkema@capecod.net> wrote in message
news:0IBFd.5723$KJ2.613@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> Hello again,
>
> I'm still not totally down on this thing with USB printers; it seems, I am
> told, that before you actually attach the USB printing device to the
> computer, you have to install the software to the point where the USB
> drivers won't be confused by the connected USB port.
>
> Firstly, am I correct about that? Now...
>
> A friend has a Lexmark 84-85 all-in-one. Keeps getting message,
> "Communication problem with printer". I deleted the printer, and
> re-installed the driver; during the installation process, there was an
> entry
> on the "What kind of port are you using for the printer?" dialog box. I
> chose USB. It seemed to install ok, but I was still getting the same
> error
> message.
>
> On the Lexmark site, there is a specific patch for this printer, when it's
> used on an XP box that has multiple user profiles and/or uses sleep or
> hibernation mode (my friend does both).
>
> I ran the patch. No avail. There is also a utility that will totally
> uninstall the driver for this printing device (must be a faulty driver); I
> ran that; now the driver was totally uninstalled, apparently, even all of
> the Registry entries are probably gone.
>
> Now, to get back to my first question: in the XP printer setup wizard, if
> you're not plugging the USB cable into the computer (as, I understand,
> you're not supposed to), when it gets to the dialog box about what kind
> of
> port you're going to install the printer into, there is NO ENTRY FOR USB.
> I
> tried to fool it by going with LPT, and then, "Other Port", but no go.
>
> When I go to "Have Disk", and browse to the folder that has the new driver
> that I just downloaded from Lexmark, it says "The driver is not in the
> specified location".
>
> How do you plug-and-play install a USB printer if "USB port" is not among
> the "Local Printer" choices?
>
> Thanks, in advance.
>
> smackedass
>
If the driver is an executable try running it that way. If it came with a
setup CD try running that first.
AG
| |
| Rightard Whitey 2005-04-06, 2:29 pm |
| smackedass wrote:
> Hello again,
>
> I'm still not totally down on this thing with USB printers; it seems, I am
> told, that before you actually attach the USB printing device to the
> computer, you have to install the software to the point where the USB
> drivers won't be confused by the connected USB port.
>
> Firstly, am I correct about that? Now...
>
> A friend has a Lexmark 84-85 all-in-one. Keeps getting message,
> "Communication problem with printer". I deleted the printer, and
> re-installed the driver; during the installation process, there was an entry
> on the "What kind of port are you using for the printer?" dialog box. I
> chose USB. It seemed to install ok, but I was still getting the same error
> message.
>
> On the Lexmark site, there is a specific patch for this printer, when it's
> used on an XP box that has multiple user profiles and/or uses sleep or
> hibernation mode (my friend does both).
>
> I ran the patch. No avail. There is also a utility that will totally
> uninstall the driver for this printing device (must be a faulty driver); I
> ran that; now the driver was totally uninstalled, apparently, even all of
> the Registry entries are probably gone.
>
> Now, to get back to my first question: in the XP printer setup wizard, if
> you're not plugging the USB cable into the computer (as, I understand,
> you're not supposed to), when it gets to the dialog box about what kind of
> port you're going to install the printer into, there is NO ENTRY FOR USB. I
> tried to fool it by going with LPT, and then, "Other Port", but no go.
>
> When I go to "Have Disk", and browse to the folder that has the new driver
> that I just downloaded from Lexmark, it says "The driver is not in the
> specified location".
>
> How do you plug-and-play install a USB printer if "USB port" is not among
> the "Local Printer" choices?
>
> Thanks, in advance.
>
> smackedass
>
>
>
You should see a USB virtual port on the local printer. I would take the
printer back if the problem continues.
| |
| Barry Watzman 2005-04-06, 2:29 pm |
| There is no hard and fast rule about how to install USB printers. It
varies by brand and model. But more often than not, you MUST install
the software before the printer is connected to the computer for the
first time. If you don't do this, in some cases you nearly need to
reinstall Windows to get a "2nd chance". However, the bottom line here
is to follow the printer manufacturer's recommendations, whatever they are.
Note that many USB printers will not work through a USB hub. For
whatever reason, they MUST be connected directly to a USB port (either a
motherboard port or a port on a PCI card with a USB controller). This
point has caused many people untold grief.
smackedass wrote:
> Hello again,
>
> I'm still not totally down on this thing with USB printers; it seems, I am
> told, that before you actually attach the USB printing device to the
> computer, you have to install the software to the point where the USB
> drivers won't be confused by the connected USB port.
>
> Firstly, am I correct about that? Now...
>
> A friend has a Lexmark 84-85 all-in-one. Keeps getting message,
> "Communication problem with printer". I deleted the printer, and
> re-installed the driver; during the installation process, there was an entry
> on the "What kind of port are you using for the printer?" dialog box. I
> chose USB. It seemed to install ok, but I was still getting the same error
> message.
>
> On the Lexmark site, there is a specific patch for this printer, when it's
> used on an XP box that has multiple user profiles and/or uses sleep or
> hibernation mode (my friend does both).
>
> I ran the patch. No avail. There is also a utility that will totally
> uninstall the driver for this printing device (must be a faulty driver); I
> ran that; now the driver was totally uninstalled, apparently, even all of
> the Registry entries are probably gone.
>
> Now, to get back to my first question: in the XP printer setup wizard, if
> you're not plugging the USB cable into the computer (as, I understand,
> you're not supposed to), when it gets to the dialog box about what kind of
> port you're going to install the printer into, there is NO ENTRY FOR USB. I
> tried to fool it by going with LPT, and then, "Other Port", but no go.
>
> When I go to "Have Disk", and browse to the folder that has the new driver
> that I just downloaded from Lexmark, it says "The driver is not in the
> specified location".
>
> How do you plug-and-play install a USB printer if "USB port" is not among
> the "Local Printer" choices?
>
> Thanks, in advance.
>
> smackedass
>
>
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