help printer settings keep changing

[Sher]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax (More info?)

HI all,
I am at my wits end. I have a new printer 490 okidata dot matrix. I have
set it up as a shared network printer using hp jetdirect box. I am using
generic text only drivers on xp workstations. When the user prints forms it
is one line off on the second page then continues creeping. When I delete
the printer and set it up again it works properly, but for instance over the
weekend it seems to lose settings or something. When user tried to print
this morning, it was back to printing one line off on second page and so on.
I re installed and it is working again. HP jetdirect says its not their box,
okidata says its not their printer, software vendor says its not their
program. (seems they think it has to do with xp)
Can anyone help me or point me in the right direction?
Sher

 

[Chuck]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax (More info?)

I have my suspicions, since this is a really old problem with dot matrix
printers and windows.
To start with use the divide an conquer rule.Set the printer driver to send
output to a file instead of the printer, then examine the file with a hex
editor. There may be added characters after the first or second page.
Beyond that, --
Printer based proportional fonts can cause a similar problem.

The early windows and dos based programs occasionally had an error that was
traced back to a numerical rounding or truncation error in way the page
length was tracked. This resulted in a one line uncertainty in some
situations. Page lengths were defined in several different ways (number of
ASCII lines, page length in inches or mm, or in what related to the vertical
advance by the printer in a fraction. The problem was unnoticed for a long
time, and became an issue when continous feed paper was available with
perforations for each page. Some of the high volume dot matrix printers used
a mechanical forms control unit that could be set to the exact form length.
So much for history.

One possible cure from the past. If a page was say long enough to print 60
lines, the maximum number of lines was set to 59. A form feed was used to
advance to the next page. If a series of form feeds caused the positioning
to shift, the printer page length vs the real page lengh were incorrect, or
the printer had a problem. .

"Sher" <Sher@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2C048C36-A09D-4861-ABB3-A826CA9B20F2@microsoft.com...
> HI all,
> I am at my wits end. I have a new printer 490 okidata dot matrix. I have
> set it up as a shared network printer using hp jetdirect box. I am using
> generic text only drivers on xp workstations. When the user prints forms
> it
> is one line off on the second page then continues creeping. When I delete
> the printer and set it up again it works properly, but for instance over
> the
> weekend it seems to lose settings or something. When user tried to print
> this morning, it was back to printing one line off on second page and so
> on.
> I re installed and it is working again. HP jetdirect says its not their
> box,
> okidata says its not their printer, software vendor says its not their
> program. (seems they think it has to do with xp)
> Can anyone help me or point me in the right direction?
> Sher


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