HP Invalid Printer Error Message

Troops:
This is the setup:
Windows 98 and an HP660C
1. I boot up and immediately start to do some printing. No problem.Everything works just fine. I can print file after file.
2. After printing let me walk away from the computer for about an hour. In other words nothing is going on. I just leave the system completely alone.
3. Let us now say I want to print something. I get an error message saying the printer is out of paper. At this time I can turn the printer off and on and request the printing again with the same result i.e. the same error message is presented.
4. I reboot the computer and ask for the printing. Once again it prints fine.
No problem.

My questions, of course, are :
(a) What is causing this out of paper "flag "?
(b) Is there something I can do besides rebooting?

David

 

Sounds like the same problem you posted on July 9th eh??

See this thread, hope it refreshes:
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=32645

 

Yes, this is a repeat of a previous message. I tried all the previouslysuggested answers without reaching a solution. I am hoping someone can offer a different apprach. Re-installing the drivers and seeking
help from HP went nowhere.
David

 

Have you tried the HP website for your Printer problems? The reason I mention this is HP Printers may be difficult to reinstall if not done correctly. (Been there Done that )

See this:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...Category&dlc=en&tool=solveCategory&rule=23192

I use HP Printers so, Please Post Back with results.

Edit: Further checking I find that this 6xxx Series of HP printer has an Inherent problem with the rollers. So Have you cleaned yours lately??

 

I tried the HP Help site and all they recommend is reinstalling the driver.
I did everything they recommended until they said they had run out of suggestions. I cleaned the rollers even though the printer, when printing has no problems at all. My problem is the "magical" production of a flag somewhere in some file indicating I am out of paper. Yet this develops at a time when the computer is not being used. It is sitting there idle. If at the start I continue to use the printer it will perform in every respect meeting each print request faithfully. The trouble appears only after an extended idle time (say >1/2 hour)
David

 

Sorry to hear that:

The only solution left then, in my mind, is to remove the printer from the system, uninstall all drivers and files, reboot the machine.Then shut down again and do a fresh install of the printer, after the next restart.

That's all I have to offer at this point, but it seems if HP cannot offer a suggestion to fix it....

 

Hi David, problems are back?

I am thinking further up the chain. Windows...you say after more than half an hour, is that with the computer idle? I wonder about the Win 98 "standby" problems. Could your power management settings be effecting it? You could search these forums for "standby ".

Motherboard drivers, they may have an effect on the LPT port. Check if new ones are available from the motherboard manufacturer's website.

Higher still...check what BIOS upgrades are available. You can check what each upgrade does, but because one item has a casade effect on others it may not be evident from the descriptions. My friends Gigabyte board kept "losing" the floppy drive, ended up being fixed with a BIOS upgrade (they can sometimes fix unexplainable problems).

Matt
PS I'll throw in something even stranger...your antivirus doing a system check.

 

This computer has a brand new BIOS installed to accomodate a larger disk.
After its installation I formatted the disk for two OS 98 and XP. There was no problem with the printer at that time. Having had problems with viruses on XP I removed that OS and have only the 98. I think it was shortly after doing this that I experience the printer problem.
Again. after a period (>1/2 hour) of doing nothing on the computer. I will get the out of paper error message.
I have uninstalled the driver and reinstalled it. No help
I have turned the computer off and unplugged it after receiving the error message. Again no help.
I am using Grisoft antivirus but I have used it for a couple of years with no previous problems.
Any other suggestions?

David