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Printer vs Scanner

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by chester peterson

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I have a Umax 2000P scanner and a Canon Bubblejet 210 printer, (parallel) which work fine by themselves. When I attach the printer through the scanner, which is attached to the PC, the scanner works fine but the printer wont print and has a error message 'There was an error writing to LPT1. The printer is not ready. Make sure it is turned on'
When I do press print I hear the printer beap once, like it is is going to print and then the error message.
Plese help

12 replies

by ann777

This is not unusual... most printer manufacturers do not support the printer through any type of pass through port. HP definitely says "no"

I recommend you purchase a switch box and manually switch to the printer or the scanner when you needthe device.

by thechas

1. Make sure that the cable form the PC to the scanner is a full 25 wire bi-directional cable.

Same for the cable from the scanner to the printer.

2. Make sure that the parallel port is set for the correct type. Most devices require ECP/EPP.

3. Consider adding a PCI parallel port card. That way, you can use either the printer or the scanner without any conflicts. If you search carefully, you might even find the card to be cheaper than a switch.

Note: sometimes using a cheap manual switch can cause similar problems to what you are having. Also sometimes, Windows does not like it when you disconnect the printer while it is on.
If you do get a switch, make sure to get a name brand.

Chas

by thechas

Just thought about it, it may be a simple as removeing, and re-installing the printer driver.

Chas

by cglrcng9

In order for the cannon BJC-210 to work in the "pass thru mode", the scanner must be plugged in & the scanner power switch must always be on. Try that and you should be able to print. You did (I will assume) load the correct scanner drivers?

by cg it

As TheChas said, adding a parallel PCI card to give you an additional parallel port [LPT 2] will solve your problem unless you really want the printer to be hooked up to the scanner.

by rcom

I agree with Chas that it's probably the type of cables you have and or BIOS settings. Don't use a manual A/B switch because there's too much of a risk that the switch may damage either the printer or the scanner. Get an auto-sensing switch if you choose to go that way.

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