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USB Printer Cable/Port and Power Managem

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by Member 30576776 1 view

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I am running Win98 SE on a homebuilt AMD K62-350 PC. I purchased a QVS UC-1284 cable to connect my HP LJ3p printer to my USB port. A problem developed about 9 months ago where the printer will not print after a reboot/power on. The error message from Win98 says "the port [that the printer is on] is not available or improperly configured...". I have to put the PC in standby mode, and then restore it in order to print. The machine prints fine until the next time that I have to power down or reboot. Deleting and restoring the port has the same effect.

I have reported this problem to QVS and Microsoft, searched their knowledge bases, applied their patches for ACPI and USB and tried their recommendations. My wife will strangle me if I don'tget this working. Many kudos and points to the person that figures this one out!! [howard_pincham@yahoo.com]

10 replies

by clover252525

Two solutions come to mind: first, don't power the computer down. Disable the power management in BIOS and enable Windows power management in control panel to switch the monitor off after, say, 15 mins (it's the monitor that draws a lot of power, not the computer). I realise this doesn't "fix" the problem but it may avoid it.

The second is, why not run the printer from the parallel port? I run mine from the parallel and reserve the USB for my digital camera. Nothing conflicts with anything that way. The speed of the printer depends on the available memory, not necessarily the port used.

clover

by Member 30576776

Thanks -- the computer is on all of the time. Of course Win98 hangs or resets and causes the problem. I have another device on the parallel port.

by dmiles

Some problem can be caused by the settings other than LPT1,Power the computer on ,at the start-up page,hit the key referenced in the bottom left corner (delete),open to the CMOS control panel,in the configuration make sure that spp is shown.

by lucard

I've seen this before. It's all because of the poor BIOS support for USB devices. Some motherboards have problems even booting with an USB device connected. So, there are two ways to solve this: first, check for a BIOS upgrade, second, if you do not find any or it doesn't solve your problem try avoiding booting with the printer connected and try to connect it after the system is up’n’running .

by Member 30576776

Thanks -- I have already applied the latest BIOS upgrade. Booting with/without the device, connecting disconnecting the device did not work.

by mogge

Change your powersupply unit to a 250Watt.
It may help.

Or try to upgrade the Motherboard?s BIOS.

Good luck. :-)

by technofox

Check your motherboard Manufacturer for the latest bios updates and/or patches for your motherboard. Check irq settings and I/O range for conflicts. If all else fails read the motherboard manual.

by Member 30576776

Thanks -- BIOS at highest level, latest chipset drivers and OS patches are installed. No IRQ oe I/O conflicts found.

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