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Common Printing Problems in the CTL |
Printer problems seem to come and go, so it is very important that you please let Steve know about any issues! Below are some of the issues which we have seen in the past:
This could be due to a number of things, however, there is one possibility which seems most likely. Occasionally, and for some as yet unknown reason, the CTL Windows computers queue up print jobs but stop sending them. Once this begins, the computer will not send any print jobs until it is rebooted. To reboot, please following this procedure:
As we are trying to determine the source of this problem, we would appreciate it if you would always let Steve Lasley know when this procedure seems necessary.
If this does not work, and Steve is not available, please try restarting the printer.
This can be a tricky problem to solve because...
However, here are the things to try.
The manual feed tray, AKA "Tray 1" is for special forms and is located on the right side of the printer. The door to this tray can open and close, so if you don't see it, open it up. Of course, you will see form type and size references rather than the XXXs as shown above.
Print jobs go to Tray 1 if the document you are trying to print is either not of standard letter size or if the printer has been set (possibly by a previous user) to use Tray 1 rather than the default "auto select". If you want to understand the process further, see the section on Special forms: letterhead, labels, transparencies, etc.
If you did not mean to send such a job, you do not have to load paper
into Tray 1. You can override the paper destination at the printer by pressing the green
"Go" button on the printer's control panel. Using this procedure you can force the
job to Tray 2 or 3. If you are sure that the print job is yours, and you wish simply
to not print, you may press the pink "Cancel Job" button on the printer's control
panel.
This is a user selectable option in the printer options. To eliminate this, go to the File, Print menu on most any application. Within the resultant dialog box, click on the Properties button next to the list box displaying the name HP LaserJet 8000 Series PCL 6. Click on the Effects tab and select "(none)" in the Watermark list box.
Please note that any changes you make to printer options affect people using the computer after you! In general, you should not make changes here at all, except to correct a problem left by a prior, less conscientious user. A prime example follows.
If you wish to set the printer for manual feed, DO NOT DO SO via these printer options. A much better way is via the File, Page Setup command within your application, as these latter changes affect only that one document and do not change the printer defaults. For further details, see: Special forms: letterhead, labels, transparencies, etc. Again, if you feel you must change the printer default options, please remember to set them back when you are finished!
This is a user selectable option in the printer options. To eliminate this, go to the File, Print menu on most any application. Within the resultant dialog box, click on the Properties button next to the list box displaying the name HP LaserJet 8000 Series PCL 6. Click on the "Finishing tab" and select "1" in the Document Options "Pages per sheet" list box.
Please note that any changes you make to printer options affect people using the computer after you! In general, you should not make changes here at all, except to correct a problem left by a prior, less conscientious user. A prime example follows.
If you wish to set the printer for manual feed, DO NOT DO SO via these printer options. A much better way is via the File, Page Setup command within your application, as these latter changes affect only that one document and do not change the printer defaults. For further details, see: Special forms: letterhead, labels, transparencies, etc. Again, if you feel you must change the printer default options, please remember to set them back when you are finished!
On fairly rare occasions, the printer's processor hangs on a job. If the printer displays a PROCESSING message or some other message (except for Manually Feed messages) for SEVERAL MINUTES w/o printing anything, such a crash has likely occurred. The procedure for resolving this involves turning off the printer (the power button is on the lower left front), waiting several seconds, and restoring power. If the problem continues you will have to see Steve Lasley.
By default, the computers are set to print from either Tray 2 or 3, which contain plain paper. If you need to print on special forms, you must tell the application which you are using (e.g. Word or WordPerfect) to print from Tray 1. How you do this depends on the application you are using. The most common situations are covered below; if you have additional questions, please see Steve Lasley.
There is always a danger that adhesive forms such as labels may separate from their backing while going through the printer. To lessen the likelihood that this will occur, please make sure you use only forms specially made for laser printers. Additionally, please select a straight-through paper path by using the following instructions:
Printing quality issues should always be brought to the attention of Steve Lasley. Unfortunately, not all paper types work well in this printer. Textured bond papers are often problematic. If you wish for the highest quality, on certain paper stocks you may have to resort to printing on plain paper and photocopying to the paper of your choice. For those doing dissertations or theses, "Southworth 13c, 100% Cotton Fiber, 20 lb.", has been used satisfactorily. Please let me know if you find other papers, either that work well or do not, and I will add these to a list here.
If at all possible, contact Steve Lasley to resolve printer paper jams. If he is not available, you can try to locate the wayward paper in one of the following locations. All jammed paper will remove easily if accessed from the proper location. Please be careful and avoid yanking, kicking, etc.
When the printer displays the TONER LOW prompt, this does not mean that printing cannot continue. Think of it like a fuel gauge warning light. The printer can usually print hundreds of acceptable pages after this message first appears. Even if the toner ran completely out, the printer would not be damaged by using it; the only problem is your page would be blank--an understandable concern, however. When you see the TONER LOW prompt, please let Steve Lasley know.
Our lab has an HP DeskJet 930C color printer attached to station CTL6. While print jobs can be prepared for this printer on any of Windows computer that has the proper driver installed and set to print to file, the actual printing must be done at station CTL6.
If you intend to print from an application available on CTL6 (e.g., an Office 2000 program such as Word or PowerPoint, or perhaps one from Corel's WordPerfect Suite 8, such as Word Perfect or Presentations) you can do the entire operation at CTL6. Once you have the document loaded into the application and are ready to print, go to the File, Print menu and change the printer to the HP DeskJet 930C. You may want to check out the print options to make sure they are set for the medium you are using. The printer can accept various types of media, including transparencies. Once the options are set as needed, use the application's print dialog box to print the desired page(s).
If the application you wish to print from is not available on CTL6, you will have to print in two steps:
In step one, you will have to use some other machine which has both the application you need and the 960C driver installed. (If you need the driver set up on some machine, please see Steve Lasley.) As an example, let's say you wanted to print a color graph from SigmaPlot. You would first open/create the file on some machine which has that application installed. Then you would go to the File, Print menu and change the printer to the HP DeskJet 930C, just as you would do on CTL6. Again, you may want to check the print options to see that they are set correctly. When you actually click OK and begin printing, you are prompted for a filename. Since the printer is not attached to that station, the print job will go instead to the file you specify. By default, the file will go to the machine's local scratch directory and will include a file extension of ".prn". Do not add an extension yourself, or if you do, make sure it is ".prn"; otherwise, later instructions will fail. The resultant file, "thenameyoutyped.prn", will contain the printer job stream just as it would have been sent to an attached printer; this file contains all the information the printer needs to print the job. Now you have to get that file to the printer!
In step two, you need to get the file onto CTL6. You can use the Global Scratch Area or the Departmental Dropbox to accomplish this, or bring it there on a CD-R or Zip disk. Once at the CTL6 station, you use the Windows Explorer to find your file (it should have a ".prn" extension) and right click on it. You will see a print command. Select it and printing will commence.
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Last edited 31 January 2002 |