Lexmark z23 Win98se: no USB port in "properties"

[hierogrammate]

A friend of mine asked me for help with his archaic Hitachi Visionbook Pro 7000 laptop and his Lexmark z23 printer. First of all, I updated everything in the laptop, including the BIOS.

The thing is that he can't get the printer to print. When I checked, there was no USB port option in Start>Settings> Printers> Lexmark z23-z33> Properties> "Details" Tab> "Print to the following port" drop-down menu. I tried uninstalling and re-installing, "updating" the diver manually, unplugging the USB cable, removing and reinstalling the USB hub in the Device Manager, re-installing with the USB cable connected and disconnected... still, no USB choice appears. The solution in Lexmark's KB:

http://support.lexmark.com/cgi-perl/knowledgebase.cgi?ccs=229:1:0:285:0:0&emeaframe=&docid=ENUS14004

doesn't help either....

The cable works, it's the one I use with my PC and my Lexmark Z55. Also, under Device Manager > USB Controllers >USB Root Hub > "Power" Tab> "Power Properties" button, I see the printer listed under "Devices on this hub."

I don't know what else to do apart from telling my friend to get a new laptop or a new printer

Any help would be appreciated.

Edwin

 

[blutekhnd]

Have you tried a different USB device to determine if it is the printer or the laptop? Or the printer on a different computer?

 

[hierogrammate]

Hi:

Well, I'm obviously dumb: it didn't occur to me to test the printer with my PC. However, I installed the same printer with that laptop once before... I don't know how I got it to work exaclty... I only installed/uninstalled it and restarted several times until it worked. The thing is, the owner recently reinstalled Win98, so he came to me to help him with the printer again, but no luck this time.

He has a USB scanner too, and it works ok. BTW, the notebook has only one USB port.

Anyway, I gave up and returned the notebook to him. I wonder if installing a different OS, say Win Me (I wouldn't try anything fancier since the laptop is so old), would help...