Service manual

6-26 DECcolorwriter 1000
6 Troubleshooting
PC DOS printing problems
Image never prints.
Printer READY light
flashes as if receiving
data, but nothing comes
out of printer, or the
printer goes back to
“Ready” mode without
printing image.
Make sure that you are communicating with the printer.
At the DOS prompt, type the following in lowercase letters:
echo showpage >
port:
(substitute
LPT1:, LPT2: or COM1, etc., for port: )
The printer responds by sending a page through the print
cycle and ejecting a blank page. If this does not happen,
check your cable, or try a different parallel cable. If using the
serial port, refer to the serial port configuration.
Ensure that the print file ends with a “CTRL-D” character.
CTRL-D indicates the end-of-file which the printer responds
to by closing host-to-printer communications and then
processing and printing the file. Use a text editor to open and
examine the file.
Check and add, if necessary, the following line to the
autoexec.bat file:
mode = LPT1,,,p
(If your port is not LPT1, substitute LPT2: or COM1: for the
correct port). This turns on printer retry indefinitely.
Ensure
that the print engine can print by pressing and holding
the rear panel TEST switch to print an internal test print.
Is the printer in PostScript mode? Check this by sending the
file
TESTHPGL.PLT (located on the Utilities diskette, HP-GL
directory) to the printer.
At the DOS prompt, type the following DOS command:
COPY TESTHPGL.PLT LPT1:
(If your port is not LPT1, substitute LPT2: or COM1: for the
correct port).
The PC responds with 1 FILE COPIED. If this file prints
stating that the printer is in HP-GL mode, then the printer
needs to be changed back to the PostScript mode. Use the
utility located on the diskettes to change language emulation.
Refer to
DECcolorwriter 1000 Drivers and Utilities Printing
Reference
for complete instructions.
Download ADVEHAND.PS file located on the Utilities
diskette. At the DOS prompt, type the following DOS
command:
COPY ADVEHAND.PS LPT1:
(If your port is not LPT1, substitute LPT2: or COM1: for the
correct port).
The PC responds with 1 FILE COPIED. The printer now has
a PostScript error handler present which remains resident
until power is cycled on the printer. Resend the image file that
was not printing.
Any PostScript errors encountered by the printer are recorded
on a printout (save the print with the error message).