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slcdane

1 Message

40175

June 30th, 2007 22:00

966 printer won't print

I installed the 966 wirelessly about three weeks ago, and it worked like a charm on all the computers.  No problem.  Then about 4-5 days ago it stopped printing.  It is still connected to the network.  I can ping its IP address.  But when it goes to print it starts out in the pop-up window and then just hangs, anywhere from 5% to 99% complete.  It never completes the action.  Sometimes the document will show up under printers as printing, and other times it never gets that far.  It acts like a buffer may be full, but can't see anywhere to purge it.  It acts the same on all the computers  There are no erros generated, it just doesn't begin printing.  One more thing, it apears that this may have happened after I sent my first FAX.

Baltazar1

1 Message

July 1st, 2007 21:00

I'm experiencing the same trouble. I installed the wireless card and all workad fine. Having upgraded to Vista it was still working until a fex weeks ago. The print spooler process the print job but no action on the printer will start. The popup won't be visible. I was even unable to stop the print job. After different attempts i decided to uninstall the printer to reboot Vista and to re install the printer.
 
Now it works unless I leave the computer up and running. should I shutdown the system the printer will not Wi-Fi work. If I use a USB cable (a shame since I have to get the printer close to the computer) all works fine.

any clue ?

T-PO

1 Message

July 13th, 2007 17:00

I got more or less the same problem. I also work wireless on the 966.
 
If I first startup the computer and later on the printer, the printer will not print. Sometimes It stalls around the 5%, in other cases the popup will not show...
The printer does also not show up in the network configuration settings of the printer....
 
However, If I first switch on the printer and then startup the computer, the printer works fine.
Shutting down the printer and then switching it on again, then the printer still works fine.
 
Any clue?
 
 
 
 

Anonymous

5 Practitioner

 • 

274.2K Posts

July 18th, 2007 17:00

Hello, All.
 
Can you  please post back and let me know whether you installed the drivers from the CD that shipped with the printer or from our support downloads? This issue has been escalated to printer engineering for further investigation. Thanks for posting.

Bill_W_DTRBAHKW

4 Posts

August 21st, 2007 02:00

So, what was the resolution to this issue?  I am experiencing the same problems.  I am not using Vista, just XP.  I re-installed the CD drivers onto my Laptop, and that seems to be working now (HP).  My Dell and Sony workstations still behave the same way, in that they hang and will not print.  Thanks!
 
Bill

David E Peterso

3 Posts

August 30th, 2007 09:00

Add me to the list. I installed Vista Ultimate and then reinstalled my 966 wireless. Everything was fine and then, without warning, the print jobs would hang. 5% to 90% on the progress meter. I've left a job pending overnight with no success. I sure would like to know the solution. Thanks...

David E Peterso

3 Posts

September 3rd, 2007 13:00

Update: Downloaded driver (dated ‎Friday, ‎August ‎31, ‎2007, ‏‎10:05:25 AM) from the Dell website and then reinstalled the printer. This time it printed, albeit very slowly, for a couple of days. Now it's back to hanging again.
 
It appears from other posts that many people's print capabilities were 'suddenly changed'. Could this be the result of a Dell update?
 
 

jtriumph

2 Posts

November 27th, 2007 04:00

I've got the identical problem as described above. I set up the printer and it worked like a dream. Then, just in time for my wife to use it, it stopped working. The little status window says that it gets to 5% then stops. When I look at the print que I can see the documents and the status says "Error - Printing" or "Sent to Printer". The printer is connected to my wireless network via my Lynksys WRT54G. I set it up as a local printer connected via TCP/IP. The IP is correct. I've got the latest drivers.

Traillens

4 Posts

December 7th, 2007 19:00

Took me about two weeks to get the 966 running. Downloaded the driver from the Dell website many, many times and it finally started working with my Vista Ultimate CPU.  Sort of. I was able to scan to the file one time, then never again. The Dell AIO program does not acknowledge any commands so it is useless. The buttons remain gray or do nothing. The printer itself seems to work OK if you use those buttons instead of the program.  Have constant problems keeping the 966 connected to the network.
In my opinion, the print quality in regular print or photo mode is subpar. I dread the day I have to re-configure the system.
Has Dell figured out a fix on this unit yet? Any downloads available to get it working properly?

David E Peterso

3 Posts

December 7th, 2007 20:00

Printing is no longer a problem after re-installing a Dell download 3 or 4 times. That's not to say printing is immediate. Sometimes it takes 10-15 minutes before the printer 'wakes up'. Once and a while my PC loses connection and I have to recycle the printer.
 
Scanning is a joke. The Dell fax/printer/etc. software needs to be running on the PC, as far as I can tell. Then you sit at the printer and attempt to load the scanning options from the PC. I have had to do this 2-3 times before the printer recognizes the PC data. Then you scan. Press the scan button ONE TIME and then BACK AWAY FROM THE PRINTER. If you press it twice, you'll get a 'scanner is already running' message and then you are hosed.
 
Do not expect the scan to occur right away. It will occur within an hour. The scan also strips 'empty' content from the borders. I have not figured out how to tell it to stop that.
 
It gets worse: If you want to scan a second page, you are forced to go through the whole process again. One would think, once the PC info is loaded into the printer, it would stay until the printer is powered off. No such luck.
 
Bottom line: you can scan. Just don't do it when you are in a hurry or in a bad mood.
 
 

verwimp

3 Posts

December 16th, 2007 18:00

I too am having the same problems.  My printer worked initially but then just problem after problem and I am so frustrated.  Has anyone ever figured out a fix yet??What about Dell?  Have they been able to help anyone with this?  I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling thinking I could get it going again but it always says there is no communication with the wireless adapter.  Then when I do the test page pop up goes from 1%-100% but nothing prints.  I am running XP on a Toshiba and my husband is too yet his computer (also a Toshiba) prints fine on the Dell.

Traillens

4 Posts

December 17th, 2007 00:00

when my printer does that I usually unplug the power from the printer and wait 30 seconds. Also turn off the PC and then plug the printer back in and re start the pc. That has worked for me some of the time. good luck.
Have not heard anything from Dell about a fix yet either.

verwimp

3 Posts

December 17th, 2007 13:00

Thanks.  I tried that and it seemed to clear things because about 4 meters from 0-100% came on the screen, but alas when I tried another test page it did the same thing.  Then I shut off all my antivirus software (Kaspersky) and tried a test page and it worked fine.  Every time I turn it on though the same thing happens.   I have sent an email to Kaspersky support to find out what they know of this.

Splitshot638

2 Posts

December 17th, 2007 21:00

David ,
Iv'e been dealing with mine for almost a year now , well since May 1 st. anyway many many tech support people  another replacment printer and even one of Dell's Vista Pro's he got it to work for a couple of days , and gave me a bogus phone # to call him back on if I ever had any other problems , I think the only problem I have is this Dell A966 piece of JUNK......

ObscureJ

4 Posts

January 8th, 2008 14:00

I bought a 966, including the wireless adapter, duplex attachment and inks, with a 1720 laptop at the end of November 2007; in total I spent over £300 on the printer and to echo the last poster here, it certainly does appear to be a load of junk (polite version).
 
As all my new kit arrived in the lead up to Christmas, and I was also upgrading my internet connection to wireless broadband - with another, this time free, Dell laptop - and changing mobile contracts, I had a lot to set up and 'play with', and having run a test printer page when I installed everything, I took it for granted the printer worked.
 
Scanning some very old b&w photos just before Christmas was cumbersome and produced rather poor quality images, but as they were hurriedly e-mailed for a Christmas surprise I didn't give more thought to it until the beginning of January...when the fun started.
 
Testing the printer properly I was appalled at the slow speed - as much as 4 minutes for a colour A4 page - and the terrible quality - veritcal striped variations in tone across whole pages at 1cm intervals. I contacted Dell support and was recommended to download some optional firmware that said it fixed a problem with the fax! I was dismayed and suspicious to see that the printer has now been discontinued only a month after I bought it.
 
I tried changing settings to speed up the printing, and printing via usb (not the point of choosing this printer, especially as the wireless adapter was an extra at vast cost!) - print speeds were quicker, but still only at best 6ppm for black text in draft! When I chose it Dell's spec quoted 32ppm for black.
 
Today the printer stopped working. I won't give more details because it was exactly as described above.
 
If this printer has had known serious problems right back to July 2007, why were Dell still selling it at the beginning of December?
 
Does anyone know of one that has worked properly without problems???
 
I shall be fighting this one with Dell until I get a replacement that works, which looks like it won't be this model.

jtriumph

2 Posts

January 8th, 2008 15:00

They explained to me that I only had 21 days to exchange the printer. I think I might hook up my old HP PSC 1100. I thought that was bad until I got the Dell 966. It's sad really. I'm starting to accept that I've been ripped off and I can't do a thing about it.

I should say. Dell's customer support staff is great. They did everything that their policy would allow. I even got a replacement to correct the network problem. I told them it wouldn't work but they sent it anyway. Well, as it turns out, I was right. After a few days I could no longer print over the network until I removed the drivers and software, then re-installed all of it. That worked for two more days, then broke again. It's just a bad product.

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