Dell AIO 966 Duplexer will not auto duplex

Question

We followed all setup and install instructions as well as print preferences. After 6 weeks, we still cannot get our Duplexer to DUPLEX automatically---with the exception of MS Word which duplexes without changing a single thing. We get the following error:

__________________________________________________________________________________
Dell Photo AIO Printer 966 - USB Port

Printing Manual Duplex

This printjob specifies a papaer size or media type that is not
supported by the Print Duplexer. The print job has been formatted to print
using Manual Duplex. The Print Duplexer supports letter and A4 plain
paper only.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I cannot print duplexed two-sided documents from the Internet or any other program except Word and have not changed Print Preferences. I have contacted the various types of Dell Support spending hours on the phone being transferred from one tech to another, or email with automated responses (answers are the same) and frankly it is seriously lacking. I have programmed, plugged & unplugged, installed, uninstalled, reinstalled, etc. etc. The last tech told me, "This unit does not duplex from the Internet." So why did we spend the extra to save on paper when it doesn't work to print from anything other than Word??? Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone
have anything to offer? I feel it is not a hardware issue, but a software or setup with the new Windows Vista OS. We are so tempted to go back to our old reliable HP and sell this one on eBay!

Archerjohn · Answer

@pg-D wrote:

We followed all setup and install instructions as well as print preferences. After 6 weeks, we still cannot get our Duplexer to DUPLEX automatically---with the exception of MS Word which duplexes without changing a single thing. We get the following error:

__________________________________________________________________________________
Dell Photo AIO Printer 966 - USB Port

Printing Manual Duplex

This printjob specifies a papaer size or media type that is not
supported by the Print Duplexer. The print job has been formatted to print
using Manual Duplex. The Print Duplexer supports letter and A4 plain
paper only.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I cannot print duplexed two-sided documents from the Internet or any other program except Word and have not changed Print Preferences. I have contacted the various types of Dell Support spending hours on the phone being transferred from one tech to another, or email with automated responses (answers are the same) and frankly it is seriously lacking. I have programmed, plugged & unplugged, installed, uninstalled, reinstalled, etc. etc. The last tech told me, "This unit does not duplex from the Internet." So why did we spend the extra to save on paper when it doesn't work to print from anything other than Word??? Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone
have anything to offer? I feel it is not a hardware issue, but a software or setup with the new Windows Vista OS. We are so tempted to go back to our old reliable HP and sell this one on eBay!

I have exactly the same problems with Windows XP, so it is not VISTA causing the trouble!

Joyce21 · Answer

There's nothing wrong with the computer, there's nothing wrong with printer, and there's nothing wrong with the duplexer itself. It is just a software issue. You can try to do these steps:   1. Click File. 2. Click Print. 3. Click Preferences button. 4. Click Advanced tab. 5. If you see 2 - side printing, click that option and on the drop down list box wherein you have options to choose from: Automatic, Manual, Print Duplexer. Choose the Print Duplexer.   Note: You need to do these steps each time that you want to do duplex printing.

PG-D · Answer

Joyce21, Thank You for responding.   We did try all the options and finally had a tech take us through everything twice.   In the end Dell replaced the printer.   The new one is working perfectly as advertised.   And, yes, it does auto duplex without having to set every time prior to printing.

Richard J · Answer

I had exactly the same problem with the duplexer in 'automatic' mode and followed Joyce's procedure and it worked great!  You don't have to do it everytime you print material from the Internet if you implement the procedure through the 'Control Panel', 'Hardware and Sound'/'Printer', then 'Dell Photo AIO Printer 966'.  This will put the printer in 'Print Duplexer' mode on all jobs.

twinpeaks · Answer

it bothers me that 1.5 years later the bug still exists even with the  new printer 968.  Why doesn't Dell fix this stuff?  Why doesn't Duplexer stick?

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