Various Printer Troubleshooting guide

You troubleshoot printing issues like you would any other computer/network related problem. You start at a general point and rule out the possibilities until you have the specific cause. The first question that you need to answer is: "Is the problem hardware, software, network or performance related?". Hardware: First make sure that the printer is on and that it is in "ready" position. Make sure that there are no error messages on the LEDs or LCD if applicable. Now complete the following steps:
1. Any printer worth owning, can print an internal test or configuration

page. This is absolutely the first thing that you want to do, even if you think that the hardware is not the issue. Make sure that the page will print and it looks good. If it prints go to step 3 - If it won't print, go to step 2. 2. Test page didn't print? Any error messages? Try cycling power on the printer and try again. If it still doesn't print, many printers have a special reset often referred to as an NVRAM reset. NVRAM stands for Non-volitile RAM and is where a printer may store a variety of information including network settings, ripped print jobs and more. Sometimes a piece of corrupted information from a bad print job can "confuse" a printer and cause it to hang. Sometimes an NVRAM reset will flush this bad information and restore the printer. It may also wipe all of your network/printer settings so you should contact the printer manufacturer before doing this. If this procedure doesn't fix the problem, then call for service. 3. Your test page printed? Good! Take a good look at it and see if there are any print quality problems(i.e. spots, streaks, etc). If the test page looks fine, then you are probably dealing with a network or software problem. If there are visible problems, then keep reading. Before doing anything else, consult your manufacturers documentation for a list of recommended cleaning procedures before moving to the next step. Almost all printers have "consumable items" or CRCs. These are parts of the printer that are customer replaceable and have a lifespan, which means that they aren't intended to last forever. On a laser printer these may include a fuser, photo-receptor, scorotron charger, toner cartridges and more. It is a good idea to keep spares of these parts on hand for troubleshooting reasons. You can save a lot of time and headache waiting for a technician, by swapping these parts one at a time and seeing if it cures the problem. Make sure that you run about 20 test pages after inserting a new CRC and see if there is improvement.

Sometimes hardware failures can leave messes that have to be "mopped up" with quite a few test pages. If these steps do not cure the problem, then contact the manufacturer for further assistance. Network: When troubleshooting networking problems with printers, you will typically follow the same lines of reasoning that you would troubleshooting a PC networking issue especially with newer models of printers. The very first thing to do is narrow down the scope the problem. Is it only an issue for 1 PC, multiple PCs or all of them. Once you have answered this question, the following steps should get you on your way. ISSUE IS AFFECTING 1 OR SOME PCs:
1. If it is just one PC, make sure that the PC is functioning properly on the

network. Can it see file servers, print to other printers, ping other devices, etc. If the answer is "no", then it is not a printer issue. If the answer is "yes", continue reading. Do print jobs make it to the printer? Most printers have an LED or LCD message that will signify that the printer is processing a job. Try the driver test page that can be printed from the properties dialogue box for the printer. Does this print? If "no" go to step 2. If "yes" then it is probably a problem. 2. If you are at this step, it means that nothing will print from 1 PC. This is most likely a configuration problem. Make sure that you can communicate with the printer at a protocol level. For example: if the printer has an IP address, can you ping it? If it is Appletalk, does it show up in the chooser? Many printers have an internal "configuration page" that can be printed that will list the network addresses and available protocols. This can often be found on an LCD when applicable. If the answer is "no", go to step 3. Find out what is acting as the print server for the printer. Some printers act as their own print server and others will print through a Novell queue, Windows LPR port or jet direct box. Try sending the test page and see if it makes it to this device. Does the job show up in the Novell queue? Does it appear in the NT queue? If the job doesn't appear in the queue, go to step 4. If the job is making it to the queue but not to the printer, Make sure that this is the same queue that the other PCs are printing to. If so, then quite frankly there is something very goofy going on if this is the only PC having the problem. Get the classifieds and look for another job. 3. If you are at this step, it is because the PC cannot communicate with the printer at a protocol level, but can communicate with all other devices and other devices can communicate with the printer. Not sure what to tell you here. May be a routing/addressing issue of some kind. Consult your local network guru.

4. If you are at this step, it is because the print jobs are not making it into the queue on the print server. We will assume that the PC is able to connect to the print server via an appropriate protocol(if not, then it is not a printer issue). This is almost always a driver configuration issue. It usually means that the driver is not pointing to the correct port, print server or queue. Go to another PC and check the network settings for the printer in question. Go back to the ailing PC and delete the printer. Reinstall the printer and insert the correct network path, port or queue, depending on how you are connected. 5. Sometimes permissions problems can cause weird printing behavior. Make sure that this user has appropriate permissions to use this resource. ISSUE IS AFFECTING EVERYONE:
1. Make sure that you can communicate with the printer at a protocol level.

For example: if the printer has an IP address, can you ping it? If it is Appletalk, does it show up in the chooser? Many printers have an internal "configuration page" that can be printed that will list the network addresses and available protocols. This can often be found on an LCD when applicable. Make sure that these settings are correct. If you are able to communicate with the printer, go to step 2. If not, then make sure that the printer is on the network. Check cabling, network addressing/configuration, etc. Check the cabling by connecting a known working device to the network drop that the printer is on and see if you are able to communicate with it. If not, then get a new cable. If you can see another device on this drop, their may be a hardware problem with the printer. Although it is rare, network cards do fail. 2. Find out what is acting as the print server for the printer. Some printers act as their own print server and others will print through a Novell queue, NT port or jet direct box. Send a test page from the print server to the printer. Does this print? If "yes", go to step 3. If "no", continue reading. If the test page doesn't print from the print server, it means that the print server probably isn't properly configured for that printer which would obviously prevent anyone else from being able to print to it. Check the type of printer port or queue that you have configured and make sure that it is correctly pointing at the printer. 3. If you are at this step, it is because nobody can print to the printer except for the print server. Make sure that the printer is shared on the server and appropriate permissions have been set. Try sending the test page and see if it makes it to the queue on the print server. Does the job show up in the Novell queue? Does it appear in the NT queue? If the job appears in the queue, go back to step 2 as something is either wrong at the print server or all of the PCs are pointing to the wrong queue on the print server.

Software: This tends to be the most complicated of the 3 types of problems and we would have to write a novel to cover everything. Unfortunately, we just don't have that kind of time, so we are going to try to give you some tips to get you headed in the right direction. When investigating software printing problems there are many useful techniques and questions that need to be asked. The first one is to find out which Page Description Language(PDL) is being used. The 2 most common are PostScript(by Adobe) and Printer Control Language(PCL by HP). Below are some of the fundamental questions that should be asked early in a problem investigation. POSTSCRIPT TECHNIQUES/QUESTIONS:

Is it actually a PostScript file that you are sending? If the printer prints out an endless stream of ASCII text, the printer is receiving PCL data. Get the correct PostSript driver for your printer. Reprint the job, this time selecting "print to file" in the print dialogue box. It will create a *.prn file. Open it using Notepad and make sure that the first line of the file starts with "%!". This signifies that it is PostScript. What printer driver was the PostScript file created with? Make sure you have the latest and greatest one. Consult your printer manufacturer. What application was used to create this file? Do all applications do this? Have you tried an alternative printer driver? And what were the results? Has this exact same file been printed on a second PostScript printer? What were the results? Was there a PostScript Error page? What did the error page say? Look up errors at: http://www.prepressure.com/ps/dbase/overviewerrors.htm Try to distill the original file using Acrobat Distiller. If a PDF file is created, you should be able to print it, other wise, you will probably get a PS error. PS errors can often be caused by corrupt graphics. When trying to distill the file, see which page it faults on. Go to that page in the document and try removing all of the graphics. Have you tried recreating the PostScript and resubmitting the file?

HP/PCL TECHNIQUES/QUESTIONS:

What printer driver was the pcl file created with? Make sure you have the latest and greatest one. Consult your printer manufacturer. What application was used to create this file? Do all apps. do this? Have you tried an alternative printer driver? And what were the results? Has this exact same pcl file been printed on a second PCL printer? What were the results?

What are the specific image errors viewed by the customer? A PCL file will continue printing incorrectly and will not leave an error page. Have you tried recreating the PCL and resubmitting the file?

Performance: Performance related issues are usually the result of incorrect customer expectations. There are actually 3 parts to print performance. The time that it takes the job to get to the printer, the time that it takes for the printer to process the job(RIP) and the time that it takes for the printer to actually print the job once it has received it. Let's look at each of these separately. TRANSFER TIME: This really has nothing to do with the printer at all. If jobs are taking a long time to get to the printer, check your network traffic. You may have to get a network sniffer or network monitoring software to check this. If you are using an external print server such as a Jet Direct box, consider the fact that you actually have a parallel connection to the printer which has a slower transfer rate than a network connection. The parallel connection from the print server to the printer is a bottleneck. Some printers are now supporting 100baseT connections which may help in this area. PROCESSING TIME: The processing that occurs on a printer is called Raster Image Processing(RIP). This is the process of the printer converting the file sent into image data that the printer uses to "paint a picture" on the page. If this process appears to be slow, the first thing to consider is the size of the file being sent. If you are sending a 5mb file, it is going to take some time to process. Note: In order to view the true size of the file being processed by the printer, you must print to file and then find the size of the file after it has been run through the driver. PostScript files can be as much as 3x larger than the original file. Send over a simple notepad file with the word "test" on it and see if there is a significant difference. Find out if the printer's memory is upgradable. This can help with processing times. Most printers have different print quality settings specified by dots per inch(DPI). File sizes will typically be larger when higher resolutions are selected. PRINT TIME: The print speed that is quoted by the manufacturer does not include transfer or processing time. It only includes print engine speed once the job is processed. If the printer handles multiple paper sizes, the print speed probably is referring to the speed for the smallest paper size. If you are printing on pages larger than 8.5x11 inches, the print speed will be slower. If it is a color

printer, find out if there are different speed capabilities for color and monochrome. Most printers have different print quality settings specified by dots per inch(DPI). Printers will typically print slower in higher resolutions. These sites usually have the latest printer drivers that fix bugs for particular models and provide compatibility with the latest software and operating systems. To troubleshoot your printing problems, start by trying the following:
1. In the application from which you want to print, from the File menu,

choose Print... . In the box that appears, check to see which printer the application is trying to access. Make sure that this is the printer you want to use. 2. Try printing something from another application. If you cannot print from another application, you may need to get a new printer driver. 3. The problem could also be specific to the program you are using. If so, try checking online support for that particular vendor's program. The following are some common problems and their possible causes: Inkjet printers Problem Prints garbage Possible cause This usually happens because the wrong printer driver is installed.

No response from Check that cables are properly connected and look for an printer; computer Online or Select button to press on the printer. Many PC gives error message printers require an IEEE 1284 cable, which is different from the standard bidirectional parallel cable. Likewise, printers for older Macs require either a serial cable or a LocalTalk cable. Consult your manual to find out what cabling you need. Print head cannot travel its full horizontal distance Open the cover and make sure there is nothing obstructing the movement of the print head. Obstructions can result if you haven't removed some of the packaging, or if there is a paper jam. If this is a new printer, remember that you must remove the safety tape, which

is put there to prevent the print head from slamming back and forth during shipping. Acts like it is There is no ink cartridge installed. In many cases, this is a printing but puts no separate item from the print head assembly, which is ink on the page already installed in the printer from the factory. Text has wrong print attributes (e.g., bold text not printed as bold) Parts of characters missing, or characters not correct color This usually happens because the wrong printer driver is installed. See information above about drivers.

The ink cartridge is either either clogged or running out of ink. Run the software cleaning utility (almost always accessible from the printer) in order to fix a clog. Replace the ink cartridge if the clog cannot be fixed or if the cartridge is almost empty. One or more of the inkwells in the print cartridge is almost empty. Unless your printer's ink cartridge can have individual colors replenished, this usually means you need to replace the whole cartridge. The paper is mismatched to the paper setting for the printer. For example, if you are using high-quality photo paper, set the printer's output for that paper; do not use the plain paper setting. The feeder bin or tray may be overloaded; remove some paper. Excess humidity may be causing pages to stick together; in that case, remove all sheets and use only as much as needed. The paper may have already been through the printer; the feeding process tends to warp and thicken areas of the page by bunching it up. Try not to use paper that's already been fed through the printer.

Text is faded

Printout is smeared

Paper jams often

Laser printers Problem Prints garbage Possible cause This is usually the result of a wrong or corrupt printer

driver, such as a PostScript driver on a non-PostScript printer. Refuses to print Check cables and front panel settings. Make sure the printer is selected or online. Also, many PC printers require an IEEE 1284 cable, which is different from the standard bidirectional parallel cable. Likewise, printers for older Macs require either a LocalTalk or a serial cable. The user manual will specify what cabling is required. This usually happens because the font is unavailable.

Letters jumble together

Printing takes a long The printer is trying to print text in graphics mode. Put a time; often only half font change code at the beginning of the document for a of a page prints font that exists on the printer. Printing is smeared, The fuser may be dirty or broken. This may require or there are faint replacement. lines on the page Printing is faded The fuser is probably almost empty. You may be able to prolong its life by shaking it. If not, replace it.

Changing the Zoom Options in the Preview Window Has No Apparent Effect. Using a TrueType or OpenType font will eliminate these problems. When printing APS or TAS checks, the right side wraps to the next line. In Version 16, the spelled out check amount does not wrap to the next line, but will shrink to fit instead. Prior to Version 16, this can be caused by selecting the Advanced Printing Features option labeled Allow Variable Font Sizes and Styles. Each operating system/printer/ font combination produces unique results; therefore, the best solution to this situation is attained by trial and error. Try adjusting the actual font size OR clearing the Allow Variable Font Sizes and Styles check box in the Advanced Printing Features.

Note:: If using a dot matrix printer, be sure that you are using a printer font. If you are using a printer font, try specifying a smaller font size. Information regarding printer fonts can be found in Help in the Fonts Overview topic. It may be desirable to set up a special Windows printer for a particular type of print job such as statements, 1099 forms, checks, labels, saving to file, etc. This allows each printer to have its own configuration including margins, fonts, paper orientation, paper size, paper source, etc. Windows allows you to set up multiple printers for the same printer driver on the same port. Additional information can be found in KB Article R10776, "How to Set Up Separate Printer Configurations for the Same Printer". When saving reports to a file, the right side of certain fields is cut off. When saving a report to a file, the right side of the report, such as the year in the date field, is being cut off. To prevent this from happening, select File | Print Setup. Click Advanced Printing Features and select the Optimize for Print to File check box. With this check box selected, the software will make adjustments using character counts instead of font calculations, thus eliminating clipping problems encountered when saving to a file. You may want to consider setting up a special printer for saving reports to a file as discussed in KB Article R10776, "How to Set Up Separate Printer Configurations for the same Printer." Additional recommendations for printing reports to a disk file can be found in the Help provided with the software (keyword: printers | configuring for printto-file output). Starting with Version 12, Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Software includes the DropBox feature, which lets you save reports and statements directly to the DropBox as PDF files. Files in the DropBox can then be printed, e-mailed, saved, as well as dragged or copied to another location. Printing to DropBox can resolve many printing issues, including certain fields being cut off. It is recommended that the Optimize for Print to File check box in Advanced Printing Features be cleared when printing to DropBox. Note: DropBox files are saved in a temporary folder that is cleared when DropBox is closed (i.e. when the last Tabs3/PracticeMaster software application is closed). Make sure that any files that need to be retained are saved in a permanent location prior to closing the software. Large Numbers are Truncated on Reports When the Optimize for Print to File option in Advanced Printing Features is selected, numbers that are very large may be truncated on some reports.

To prevent this from happening, select File | Print Setup. Click Advanced Printing Features and clear the Optimize for Print to File check box. This will allow the software to make adjustments using font calculations, rather than using character counts. This is the best option when previewing or printing a report. The Optimize for Print to File option is commonly used only when selecting to print to File. When printing statements, the Fee Date and Description fields print on separate lines. This issue usually stems from one of two points. The font size in Printer Setup | Statement Setup | Normal Font, or having Fixed selected for the Statement Width in Printer Setup | Statement Setup | Statement Width. To correct the issue, either change the Statement Width from Manual to Automatic, or try decreasing the Normal Font size. Reports/Checks/Statements are not printing properly or not printing at all The following are some troubleshooting steps that can be taken if you are having problems with reports, checks or statements not printing properly or not printing at all.

If you are using an HP4000 and getting a blank page after each print job, see KB Article R10027, "Printing with an HP4000 Printer". If a statement doesn't print at all, see KB Article R10004, "My Statement Doesn't Print". Try using a different printer driver. Many problems can be attributed to the printer driver. Certain drivers, such as the IBM Proprinter III for dot matrix printers and the HP LaserJet 4 for laser printers, are widely emulated and should work for most printers. (Note: In order to use a different printer driver, you may need to install it if it has not already been added to Windows.) It is possible that the printer driver is damaged. Reinstall the printer driver. Refer to the section of this article titled Is the Printer Driver Damaged?.

Abnormal Report Termination or Unable to connect to Accelerator A report may display "Unable to Connect to Accelerator" or "* * * Abnormal Report Termination * * *". These messages indicate problems with the Report Accelerators. See KB Article R11182, "Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Accelerators". These message will only be reported in Tabs3 and PracticeMaster Client Server Version (CSV) programs.

Other Problems when printing from Windows The following are some examples of miscellaneous printer, font and driverrelated problems that may occur when printing from Windows. Recommended troubleshooting procedures are provided for each situation. If you receive an "Out of memory" error: Specify a font that is internal to your printer. A report printed on a printer with less than 512K memory may receive this error when a noninternal font is specified. If you change the printer font to an internal font that was included with the printer, the report should print successfully.

If the printed output is too wide for the page: From the menu in the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster program, select File | Print Setup. If the Manual option is selected for the Font Selection Mode, select the Automatic option instead. Note: If you select an internal printer font that is non-scalable (i.e., the font size is shown in the font's description), the font will print using the specified point size regardless of the width of the report. Do not select a non-scalable font when using automatic font selection.

If the printed output is being clipped, overprinted or has other spacing issues: From the menu in the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster program, select File | Print Setup | Advanced Printing Features. If the Font Size Adjustment % is set to anything besides 100%, then set it to 100%.

Random font sizes appearing on the report: From the menu in the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster, select File | Print Setup. If the Manual option is selected for the Font Selection Mode, select the Automatic option instead. If you want to use manual font selection mode select a smaller font size and possibly a different font because proportional font can vary.

Gray text is too light to read: From the menu in the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster program, select File | Print Setup | Advanced Printing Features. Increase the percentage of the Gray Text and Line Density by using the slider bar. Gray shading is so dark that I can't read the text: From the menu in the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster program, select File | Print Setup | Advanced Printing Features. Decrease the percentage of the Gray Shade Density by using the slider bar. System will print short (one or two page) reports, but seems to freeze or stop responding when printing larger reports or multiple statements. Changing the Spool Settings to "Print directly to Printer" can address this issue. Open the Control Panel on your computer (Start | Control Panel.) Open the Printers control panel (Note: In Windows 7, double click Devices and Printers. In Windows Vista, double click Printers. In Windows XP, double click Printers and Faxes), right click the printer you are using, and select Properties. Not all printers are the same; however, you should have Spool Settings options somewhere within your printer configuration. Increasing your Timeout Settings can also address these types of issues. Note:: The Timeout Settings will not be available unless the printer is a local printer. If your printer output contains "garbage": Try printing from the Windows WordPad or Notepad applications. Open the application and type a few lines of text. Highlight the text and change the font so that it matches the Font, Size and Style you are trying to use in the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster application. Next, print the text using the same printer driver you are using in the Tabs3 and PracticeMaster application. If the text prints correctly in WordPad or Notepad, reports and statements should print correctly in Tabs3 and PracticeMaster applications. If the text does not print correctly, try another printer driver. If you are printing on a dot matrix printer that is printing slowly: Use the following steps to attempt to resolve the issue:

Make sure you are using a font that is internal to your printer and not a TrueType font. Try changing the printer's properties so it uses draft mode instead of letter quality. Try using the Windows Generic or Standard printer driver. (Note: Most dot matrix printers cannot use draft mode when TrueType fonts are used.)

If you are having problems trying to print using TrueType fonts: You may need to use Windows to change the printer's properties or options. Many Windows printer drivers have a special option for printing TrueType fonts as graphics. If this option is disabled, Windows will recognize the font size and font type specified (i.e., normal, italics, etc.), but will not recognize the actual font specified; instead it will use Courier as the default font. Many printer drivers have this option disabled by default because the printer prints faster when it is disabled. General tips for troubleshooting printing problems: The following are some general tips for troubleshooting printing problems. If none of the items listed above describes your situation, there are a few things you can do to try to resolve the problem: Try using a different printer driver. Many problems can be attributed to the printer driver. Certain drivers, such as the IBM Proprinter III for dot matrix printers and the HP LaserJet 4 for laser printers, are widely emulated and should work for most printers. (Note: In order to use a different printer driver, you may need to install it if it has not already been added to Windows.) Try specifying Courier as the font. Make sure you have the most current printer driver for the printer and the operating system you are using. Various printing problems can be addressed by a newer printer driver. Refer to the Printer Driver Downloads section of this article for information on downloading the most current printer drivers for your printer. Increase the amount of memory in your printer. See KB Article R10008, "Troubleshooting Performance and Speed", for additional information.

Is the Printer Driver Damaged? Tabs3 and PracticeMaster applications frequently query the printer driver for information needed when processing a report. A damaged printer driver could cause an error or other unexpected results. For example, if you preview a print

job and the preview looks good but the printed output is different than the preview, the most likely cause is a problem with the printer driver. Remove and Reinstall the Printer Note: The following steps may require your Windows CD or the printer driver files supplied by the manufacturer of the printer. To remove and reinstall a printer driver, follow these steps: 1. Exit all instances of Tabs3 and PracticeMaster software. 2. Open the Control Panel on your computer (Start | Control Panel). 3. Open the Printers control panel. (Note: In Windows 7, double click Devices and Printers. In Windows Vista, double click Printers. In Windows XP, double click Printers and Faxes.) 4. Right-click the printer that has the problem and click Delete. 5. Click Yes to confirm the deletion. The following message may be displayed: "Some files were used only for this printer and are no longer needed. Would you like to delete these files now?" 6. Click Yes. 7. Click Add a Printer to run the Add Printer wizard. Follow the instructions in the wizard to install the printer again, or follow the instructions that came with your printer. Once the printer is installed, you may want to right-click its icon and click Set As Default Printer on the shortcut menu. Printer Driver Downloads The following table provides Internet addresses for various printer manufacturers. You can visit the Web site for your printer's manufacturer if you need to download the most current version of the printer driver software for your printer. Manufactu rer Brother Canon Epson HewlettPackardrd Lexmark Oki Data Web Site Address http://www.brother-usa.com/downloads/ http://www.usa.canon.com/html/download/index.html http://www.epson.com (Select your region and then click "Get Drivers & Support".) http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html http://www.lexmark.com/US/support/drivers/ http://www.okidata.com/mkt/html/nf/Drivers.html

Panasonic Ricoh

http://www.panasonic.com/business/office/support/downl_drivers_p rinters.asp http://www.ricoh-usa.com/downloads/ (Read the software license agreement. If you agree, click OK. Then click the drop-down button below "Printers" and select your printer). http://www.samsung.com/Support/ProductSupport/Download/index. aspx http://www.support.xerox.com/support/enus.html

Samsung Xerox

A more comprehensive list of printer manufacturers can be found in Microsoft's Knowledge Base Article 65416, "Hardware and Software Vendor Contact Information." Postscript Versus Non-Postscript Printer Drivers Most printer drivers use a common core file. The common core file that is used depends on whether you are using a non-Postscript driver or a Postscript driver. If you are using a non-Postscript (PCL) printer driver, then the common core file is called Unidrv.dll. This includes the Microsoft Fax and Generic/Text Only drivers. A Postscript driver uses a common core file called Pscript.drv. Therefore, if you are experiencing errors when printing and you are using a Postscript printer driver, it may be helpful to install a non-Postscript printer driver. Likewise, if you experience errors printing with a non-Postscript printer driver, it may be helpful to install a Postscript printer driver to troubleshoot errors when printing (provided your printer has Postscript capabilities). Font on statements not printing correctly on every computer When creating Statement Designer Layouts, you can choose any font installed on your computer. However, fonts selected must be installed on each computer that will be printing statements in order for statements to reflect the font. If this is not an option, print all statements from the computer where the statement designer template was created or, if the font is in the statement heading, create a bitmap image of the heading and use the bitmap in the statement designer template. For more information on bitmap files, visit KB Article R10168, "Bitmap Scanning Service."