Canon BJ-230 printer / Win XP quit working

[philrock]

I have a Canon BJ-230 printer that has recently stopped working. I have used it for many years and it has been very reliable. Its primary virtue (other than its reliability) is that it handles 11 x 17 paper. The printer was working fine under Win XP, which I'm still using. A couple of months ago, for no reason I could see, the printer just stopped working - no response at all to a print job sent from the computer. The printer prints the Self Test o.k. The printer has only a parallel port - no USB port.

I have re-installed the drivers many times with no success. I have tried both the Win XP built-in drivers and the drivers from the original Canon 3-1/2" floppy (for Win 3.0 & 3.1). When I tell Windows to use the drivers on the floppy, it finds oemsetup.inf, I say to use it, then Windows tells me, "The specified location does not contain information about your hardware."

I have downloaded drivers from several place on the web (fearing I might well be downloading spyware), but the downloads never complete the install process successfully.

I tried a Belkin USB / parallel adapter with no success.

The only things I can think of that might be related to this problem are Windows Updates and the installation of McAfee anti-virus.

Any ideas on how I can get back in business short of buying a new printer?

If I do end up having to buy a new 11 x 17 printer, any suggestions on specific models that are not too expensive?

 

[BadBigBen]

the problem may not be the driver nor the printer, but rather the parallel port or its driver...

or it may be the spool subsystem that is acting up...

but first, check the BIOS and see if the parallel port is ENABLED and that it is set to EPP (I think that is the correct setting, if not switch to ECP and vice versa)...

see if this is of help to you:

Printer problems in Windows

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/help/printer-problems-in-windows

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[philrock]

BigBadBen, thanks for your reply.

You said "check the bios...." Not sure if you meant to interrupt the boot process and go into the CMOS, which I did not do.

I went into the Windows Device Manager and looked at the properties of LPT1. Device Manager says it is "ECP Printer Port (LPT1)." It is enabled. I do not see any options for ECP vs. EPP. Under Port Settings, "Never use an interrupt" is selected and "Enable legacy Plug and Play" is not checked.

 

[BadBigBen]

Not sure if you meant to interrupt the boot process and go into the CMOS, which I did not do.

that is exactly what I meant...
and after reviewing the above, make sure that it is set correctly to ECP (mentioned EPP in my earlier post, but that is the old standard)... sorry for the confusion, haven't dealt with parallel printers in over 10 years...

do you have another PC to test the parallel/centronics I/O port of the printer, at hand?

have you tried another cable?



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[edfair]

How about going to command prompt and dumping a text file via

type xxxx.txt > prn

to bypass all the driver issues. That should give you an answer as to basic functions.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[philrock]

BigBadBen, edfair,

Thanks very much for your help.

No response when trying to print from the command prompt.

Does not work when hooked up to a different computer.

I think the printer died. It lasted well over 10 years - I can't complain much. Time for a new printer.

To add to the fun, my Lexmark X125 printer/fax/copier/scanner died about a day later - sounds like the platen drive gears have stripped.

The availability of new 11 x 17 printers has improved drastically over the last couple of years. The two that look like the best bang for the buck are:

Canon PIXMA iX7000 Inkjet Business Printer

Brother Professional Series MFC-6490CW color inkjet All-in-One

The Canon is a printer only, costs a bit less (as low as $100), and gets fair-to-middling consumer reviews.

The Brother is an all-in-one, costs a little more (around $160), and gets good consumer reviews.

Easy decision - I ordered the Brother last night from Amazon.

 

[BadBigBen]

that the printer died, well that is what I thought at first, thus the question if you had tried it on another PC...

and glad that you found a good replacement, either would've been a good deal... I prefer Canon personally, but that Brother is probably better in the long run...

thanks for posting back...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"