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USB Printer: Found New Hardware but The specified port is unknown

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by MadCow, 2005/12/10.

  1. 2005/12/10
    MadCow

    MadCow Inactive Thread Starter

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    Ladies and Gentlemen:

    Just this morning I noticed my printers were no longer accessible within Windows XP Professional SP2. It started out with a print spooler service problem (now fixed), and then turned into a problem with what seems to be my USB ports.

    Whenever I plug in either my HP Business Inkjet 1200d or my Lexmark X1100 All-in-one (all USB printers), Windows states that it recognizes new hardware, but I receive an error stating "The specified port is unknown. "

    While troubleshooting, I have disabled and enabled my USB controllers within the BIOS, and I deleted all the USB drivers from Windows Device Manager to be re-installed on the next reboot. I tried all of my USB ports on my computer, as well as tried a different USB cable.

    What's odd is that the problem only seems to arise with printers. My USB cameras and inputting devices (keyboard/mouse) work fine.

    Does anyone have any ideas as to how to solve my problem?

    Thanks for your time.
     
  2. 2005/12/10
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    You might try uninstalling and reinstalling one of theprinters as a test.
     

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  4. 2005/12/10
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Since there was a problem with the spooler, I might be inclined to remove (delete) all the printers in the pinters folder and reinstall them.
     
  5. 2005/12/10
    MadCow

    MadCow Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks for the responses so far.

    To correct the spooler problem I ended up uninstalling all printer drivers while troubleshooting.

    I just tried again to re-install the printer drivers, and I still get the same error. Nothing shows up in the printer folder anymore.

    Any other suggestions?
     
  6. 2005/12/10
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    I'm a bit confused. Exactly how did you uninstall the drivers? Device manager? In the printers heading in control panel?
     
  7. 2005/12/10
    MadCow

    MadCow Inactive Thread Starter

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    I first uninstalled the software for the printers in Add/Remove Programs within the control panel, then I proceeded to use cleanspl.exe from the Windows Resource Kit Tools to remove what was left of the installed printer drivers (this a suggestion I found when troubleshooting the print spooler problem.)

    When I used my computer this morning, no items were in the Printers heading in Control Panel.
     
  8. 2005/12/10
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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  9. 2005/12/11
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    verify that the Print Spooler service is started and set to automatic before attempting to install any printers.
     
  10. 2005/12/11
    MadCow

    MadCow Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks for the replies.

    When installing the printer driver through the Add Printer Wizard in Windows, I am given options as to which port the printer is connected to, and there is no USB Port listed. I can't recall if the USB port was ever listed in this Wizard since Windows usually installs the software automatically.

    The Print Spooler service is running and is set to Automatic while printers are trying to be installed.

    Any more help would be appreciated.
     
  11. 2005/12/11
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    My limited experience installing printers is that they're best installed by the software that comes with the printer, usually on a CD, rather than by a "wizard ". Have you done that and found it unsuccessful?
     
  12. 2005/12/11
    MadCow

    MadCow Inactive Thread Starter

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    I have tried using the CD-ROM that come with the printers, as well as trying the newer software available on the manufacturers' websites; Both end up not recognizing that a printer is attached to the computer.
     
  13. 2005/12/11
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    Can we assume the printers used to work with this machine?
    If so, we need to see if the problem is the printers (unlikely two would develop problems simultaneously, but who knows?). Would try to install one on a friend's computer to see if it works normally there. If it does, it probably proves that the problem is your computer, and it might help if we knew its age, brand, and model and especially the MoBo model.
     
  14. 2005/12/11
    MadCow

    MadCow Inactive Thread Starter

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    It's worth a try. I'll post again with the results after trying on another computer.

    As for my computer, it's a clone that has been upgraded bit by bit over the years.

    Motherboard: Gigabyte 7DXR+
    CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2400+
    RAM: 1024MB PC2100 DDR Kingmax
     
  15. 2005/12/11
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    Your box sounds like mine. :) Will have a look at the manual.
    How old is the MoBo?
     
  16. 2005/12/11
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    This seems the clue to the issue, it's quite possible the spooler problem really isn't fixed completely.
     
  17. 2005/12/11
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Something that may not help, but also will not hurt.

    Uninstall anything listed under USB controllers in Device Manager, it will be automatically reinstalled when you reboot. Since it mentions ports, uninstall the COM ports and LPT ports as well, they may be trying to "share" the USB ports.

    Matt
     
  18. 2005/12/12
    MadCow

    MadCow Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks for the replies.

    I have tried re-installing all the USB drivers by removing them from Device Manager before, and the problem hadn't gone away. I tried it again just now, and the problem is still there, unfortunately.

    As for the Print Spooler problem, it was due to the Lexmark software installing its own Printer Server/Spooler service and forcing the Windows Print Spooler to depend on it. To solve my problem before, I just allowed the Lexmark service to run in MSConfig. Just now I edited the registry to remove the dependancy of the Windows Print Spooler on the Lexmark service to see if that was causing the problem, but I still receive the error that "The specified port is unknown. "

    I tried the printers on a friend's computer and they install fine and print out a test page.

    The Gigabyte motherboard I have is about 3 years old now.

    After searching a little more on the internet, I noticed that Lexmark printers cause a lot of problems with installing different brands of printers. However, it's odd that even my Lexmark printer will still not install.
     
  19. 2005/12/14
    MadCow

    MadCow Inactive Thread Starter

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    I guess I'm going to have to try reformatting my computer to see if that will get the computers working, unless there's another solution I could try.
     
  20. 2005/12/14
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    Haven't found help in the manual; think reinstall is a good bet. Sometimes think it should be done annually to obviate glitches that occur routinely in magnetic media.
     

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