1320C won't print

Question

Have never had trouble printing on my Dell 1320C laser printer before recently. The printer is connected to my Linksys wireless router via an ethernet cable.

All of a sudden, out of the blue I cannot print from my desktop PC (Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit). Interestingly, I can print to it from my wife's laptop (Windows Vista Home Premium) wirelessly over the network.

Have uninstalled and reinstalled the printer several times to no avail.

The printer will print a test page from its on-board commands, but not from the Windows dialog box in Control Panel. It will print a test page from the Dell Tool Box application that is installed on the PC.

The printer panel lights respond and the machine will make sounds as if it's starting up (normal whirring sounds) when I issue a print command from the PC; however, after a few seconds it then shuts down and does not print anything.

If the job history report is summoned from Dell Tool Box it will print and will show that every print job was completed when in fact the print jobs from the PC did not actually print.

My PC will print just fine to my HP 8500 all-in-one, but this printer is connected to a USB port.

I suspect that this problem lies somewhere within Windows 7. What do you think?

DELL-Manshu S · Answer

Hi,

Welcome to the Community.

You are correct in saying that the problem could be in Windows 7 as the printer is printing properly from another computer.

I would suggest you to remove the power cable and hold the power button down for 15-20 seconds. Plugin the power cable and start the computer.

Now perform a system restore and take the system to a prior date when it was working fine. At times it happens due to the updates not being properly installed on the system. To perform System Restore click the link mentioned below:

http://dell.to/T2KLon

Thanks & Regards
Manshu S
#iworkfordell

afairshake · Answer

Thanks for the prompt response, Manshu.

I'm a little leery of doing a system restore for fear of inadvertently restoring a trojan that required exhaustive efforts to get rid of a few weeks ago. If there is little chance that the trojan will not come back, I can give system restore a try. What's your opinion on the likeliehood of reviving the trojan?

afairshake · Answer

Found out that there are no restore points on my computer prior to the beginning of my printing problem.

So, instead, I uninstalled all of the Windows updates that were installed during 2012. After that the printing problem remains.

DELL-Manshu S · Answer

Hi,

As it seems to be an issue with the Operating System, I would suggest you to run the printing troubleshooter by clicking the link mentioned below:

http://bit.ly/10QQE9j

In case it does not fix the issue, you can refer the link mentioned below:

http://bit.ly/NI89UK

Thanks & Regards
Manshu S
#iworkfordell

afairshake · Answer

Manshu, I ran both the troublehooters that you referred to me.  Neither of them detected any problems, therefore they did not apply any fixes. Other suggestions?

DELL-Manshu S · Answer

Hi,

Sorry for the delayed response as I was away.

Please reset the BIOS to default. Restart the computer and the moment it starts start tapping the F2 key to boot the computer to BIOS.

Also, would like to know the following details:

1. Is the wireless internet working fine on the computer?

2. Could you check if the printer works fine when connected using the USB cable?

In case the printer works fine when connected through the USB cable, you can reconfigure the wireless with the computer as it may be an issue with the wireless on the computer.

Also, download and install the latest wireless drivers from support site using the link mentioned below:

http://dell.to/XyrgGq

Enter the Service Tag of the computer and choose the Operating System installed on the computer (32-bit or 64-bit). Please update the latest version of driver available.

Thanks & Regards
Manshu S
#iworkfordell

afairshake · Answer

Dear Manshu,

Set the BIOS to default per your instructions.

Hooked the printer to a USB port and attempted to print. Got a PDL emulation error message each time. Did some Googling and found that others had the same problem. One or two of those folks suggested using advanced settings in “printer properties” to change to “print directly to the printer.” I did that and the printer would then print any job I sent to it.

Reconnected to the router via an Ethernet cable like it when the problem originated. Made sure that the “print directly to the printer” selection was still there. It was. And now the printer will also print any job I send it over the Ethernet.

Problem appears to be fixed by a work-around technique, but why the problem came about in the first place remains a mystery. It's also a mystery how the work-around solved the problem, but there must be a clue in all this for someone knowledgeable in these matter.

What kind of problems can I expect by not being able to use the spooler for printing?

TechnoME · Answer

I also have this problem. It is connected to an update to the printer driver sent out months ago.

The suspect printer drive has the suffix HBP which has slowly incapacitated each computer it has found its way on.

Unfortunately I have not found any way to restore the old printer driver. But I am sure this is the root cause of our problems.

After the driver HBP found its way onto the computers the result was duplicated each time with the computer not being able to communicate with the networked printer. In each case being directly plugged into the printer worked. Networked causes the orange light error. We might try rolling back the driver to an earlier, NON HBP version. Windows insists on updating the printer driver, DON'T or lose connectivity.

My 2cents from numerous observations.

TechnoME

afairshake · Answer

Thanks for that insight.  Do you know where the non-hbp driver version can be downloaded?

Michel Lalonde · Answer

I have been struggling with the exact same issues. As with your situation, my wife's Macbook will print fine wirelessly while I cannot get me Dell desktop to print anything. It was working seamlessly for a number of years up until a few months ago, I suspect following a Microsoft stealth update.

I have still not found a solution. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Michel

Printers

1320C won't print

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