Transcript Printers
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Troubleshooting Printers
Chapter 17
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Overview
• In this chapter, you will learn how to – Recognize and fix basic printer problems © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Troubleshooting Printers
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) General Troubleshooting Issues
• Tools of the trade – Multimeter – Cleaning solutions such as denatured alcohol – Extension magnet for retrieving loose screws – CD or USB drive with test patterns – Phillips-head and flat-head screwdrivers © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) General Troubleshooting Issues
(continued)
• Print job never prints – Is the printer on? Connected? Check all cables, ports, and power involved.
– Check the appropriate printer applet for your version of Windows. If you don’t see the printer you are looking for, you’ll need to reinstall it using the Add Printer Wizard.
– If you attempt to use a printer shared by another PC and Windows pops up with an “Access Denied” error, you might not have permission to use the printer. Go to the host PC and check the Security tab of the Printer Properties dialog box. Make sure your user account is allowed to use the printer. Can bypass spooler if desired.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) General Troubleshooting Issues
(continued)
• Print job never prints (continued) – Is there paper and toner or ink?
– Is the print spooler overflowing, corrupt, or paused? Jobs in the print spooler can be stopped and restarted. If the printer spooler is the problem, you can bypass the spooler by selecting “Print directly to the printer.” © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) General Troubleshooting Issues
(continued)
• Print job never prints (continued) – If the print spooler is overwhelmed, you might need to delete print jobs.
– Try restarting the print spooler service. You’ll need administrator privileges to do this. In the service applet, scroll down and find the service named Print Spooler. Right-click the service and select Stop. After it has stopped, right-click the service again and select Start. You should be able to print using the print spooler again.
– You can also manually start and stop the print spooler from the command line: • NET START SPOOLER • NET STOP SPOOLER © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) General Troubleshooting Issues
(continued)
Figure 1: Print spooler © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) General Troubleshooting Issues
(continued)
Figure 2: Print spool settings © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) General Troubleshooting Issues
(continued)
• Strange sizes – Points to setup error – Check the Page Setup option in the application © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) General Troubleshooting Issues
(continued)
Figure 3: Page Setup options for Microsoft Word © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) General Troubleshooting Issues
(continued)
• Misaligned or garbage prints – A corrupted or incorrect driver—reinstall – You may have asked the printer to do something it can’t do, such as printing PostScript with a PCL driver.
• Consumables – Printer components should be properly disposed of to avoid environmental hazards.
– Some companies buy used toner cartridges.
– Check the material safety data sheet ( MSDS ).
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Other Issues
• Sharing multiple
printers on a parallel port
– A mechanical switch box may be used to share multiple printers.
– Laser printers should only be used with electronic switch boxes.
• Crashes on power up – Printers require a lot of power on startup.
– HP recommends that you turn on the laser printer first and then the PC.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Troubleshooting Impact Printers
• Dot-matrix printers require regular maintenance. – The printhead and the platen should be cleaned with denatured alcohol. – This prevents problems such as white bars on text, dots and smudges on paper, and so on.
– Gears and pulleys should be lubricated according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
• Bad-looking text – Dirty or damaged printhead—clean with denatured alcohol or replace.
• Bad-looking page – Clean the platen with denatured alcohol.
– Adjust the platen.
• Remember to replace the ribbon occasionally © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Troubleshooting Thermal Printers
• Thermal printers are simple to
troubleshoot and maintain.
– With direct thermal printers, you need to worry about only three things: the heating element, the rollers, and the paper.
– With thermal wax printers, you also need to care for the wax ribbon.
• To clean the heating element, turn off
the thermal printer and open it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Use denatured alcohol and a lint-free cloth to wipe off the heating element. Use a little pressure to get it completely clean.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Troubleshooting Thermal Printers (continued)
• Clean the rollers with a cloth or
compressed air. You want to keep them free of debris so they can properly grip the paper.
• Replacing the paper is as easy as sliding
off the old roll and replacing it with a new one. Remember to feed the paper through the heating element, because otherwise you won’t print anything.
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Troubleshooting Thermal Printers (continued)
• Replacing the ribbon is similar to
replacing the roll of paper; make sure to feed it past the heating element, or the printer won’t work properly. Your printer’s manufacturer should include any special instructions for installing a new ribbon.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Troubleshooting Inkjet Printers
• Use the maintenance software that came
with the printer setup program.
– Align and clean the print heads.
• Ink will dry out in a short time if an inkjet printer is not used—the ink in the tiny nozzles of the printhead dries out.
– Multisheet grab • Fan the paper.
• Let the printer rest if you’ve been printing a lot.
• Humidity and overheated printer can be an issue—let it cool.
– Clean the small tank where the printhead rests or parks with a paper towel.
– If color seems fuzzy, run an alignment page on the jets to see if they’ve lost alignment.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Troubleshooting Inkjet Printers (continued)
Figure 4: Inkjet printer maintenance screen © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Laser Printer Maintenance
• Keep printer clean. • Excess toner and paper dust commonly
cause the printer to get dirty.
– Clean with a special low-static electrical components (indoors) or a can of compressed air (outdoors!).
vacuum designed for – The rubber guide rollers will pick up dirt and paper dust over time, which causes paper jams.
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Laser Printer Maintenance
(continued)
Figure 5: Low-static vacuum © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Laser Printer Maintenance
(continued)
• Certain components should be replaced
regularly.
– Follow manufacturer’s recommendations.
– Most manufacturers sell maintenance kits of their printers.
for most – After installing, reset the page count.
– Clean or replace ozone filters regularly.
– Check and clean fuser assembly and heat roller.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Troubleshooting Laser Printers
• Print a diagnostic print page as a first-
step in troubleshooting.
– Hold down the On Line button as the printer is started as a first step in troubleshooting.
• Blank paper – May be out of toner.
– Check the imaging drum to see if image is on drum but not transferred to paper.
– Could be transfer corona or high-voltage power supply.
• Dirty or smudged printouts – Light dusting of toner on the paper (front or back) indicates dirty printer.
– Clean the printer.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802)
Troubleshooting Laser Printers
(continued)
• Ghosting – Can be light ghosting or dark ghosting.
• Light ghosting explored on next slide – Dark ghosting can be from a damaged drum— replace the toner cartridge.
– Low temperature or low humidity can aggravate ghosting problems.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Troubleshooting Laser Printers
(continued)
• Light ghosting – Caused by printing an extremely dark or complex image – Referred to as developer starvation • • • • • • • • Lower the resolution.
Use different pattern.
Avoid 50 percent grayscale and dot-on/dot-off patterns.
Change the layout so grayscale patterns do not follow black areas.
Make dark patterns lighter and light patterns darker.
Print in landscape.
Adjust print density and RET settings.
Print a completely blank page before the next one.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Troubleshooting Laser Printers
(continued)
• Vertical white lines – Clogged toner – Try shaking the toner cartridge or replacing it • Blotchy print – Uneven dispersion of toner – Try shaking the toner cartridge from side to side – Make sure the printer is level – Make sure the paper is not wet in spots – Check the fusing rollers and photosensitive drum for foreign objects © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Troubleshooting Laser Printers
(continued)
• Spotty print – Try wiping off the fuser rollers – Check the drum for damage • Embossed effect – Like putting a penny under a piece of paper and rubbing it with a lead pencil – A foreign object on a roller – A foreign object on the photosensitive drum – Replace the toner cartridge © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Troubleshooting Laser Printers
(continued)
• Incomplete characters – These may occur on transparencies.
– Try adjusting the print density.
• Creased pages – Cotton bond paper is more susceptible.
– Try using a different paper type.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Troubleshooting Laser Printers
(continued)
• Paper jams – Do not pull on the paper to remove it.
• • You can damage the printer by pulling out jammed paper. Check manufacturer’s jam-removal procedure.
– If there is no jammed paper, sensors may be bad.
• Pulling multiple sheets – Try using a different ream of paper—if that works, the issue is humidity.
– Check the separation pad—a small piece of rubber or cork that separates the sheets as they are pulled from the paper tray.
• www.printerworks.com © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Troubleshooting Laser Printers
(continued)
• Warped, overprinted, or poorly formed
characters
– Paper that is too rough or too smooth.
– Don’t open a ream of paper until you’re ready to load it into the printer.
– Always fan the paper before loading it in the printer.
– Do a printer self-test to determine whether the problem is the printer or the computer.
– Replace the toner cartridge, check the cabling, replace the data cable.
– Turn off advanced functions and high-speed settings; perhaps they are not supported by your software configuration.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Beyond A+
• Multifunction peripherals—
manufacturers started combining various peripherals to create multifunction peripherals, or MFPs.
• These devices can include printers,
scanners, fax machines, photocopiers, and more.
• All of the standard connection options
are available, including USB, parallel, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and more.
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Beyond A+ (continued)
• All functions are available using a single
connection.
• Many multifunction devices also include
functions that don’t require a PC at all, such as photocopying and faxing.
– You can even print files from a digital camera’s memory card without plugging the MFP into a PC.
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ ® Guide to 802: Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition (Exam 220-802) Beyond A+ (continued)
Figure 6: All-in-one printer/scanner/fax machine/copier/coffee maker/iPod dock © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved