Crazy fonts on old dot matrix printer???????
surface9
prints just fine using the command line redirect (such as: dir>lpt1).
I can also use the "type" command and print out text files and the
print is very good (such as TYPE TEST.TXT>LPT! ). However, whenever I
leave command prompt and go into windows and try to print anything, it
goes crazy - the font is so bizarre I am perplexed as to what is
happening - it is not even english nor any other language I can
decipher - it is like a crazy mix of special characters and unknown
symbols. I tried this printer on THREE (3) different computers with
three different OS's (Windows 98, Windows 2000 Pro, and WIndows XP),
and the results are the very same - it prints just fine from the
command line redirect to LPT1, but, on all three PC's the font gets
all messed up when I try to print anything from windows (trying to
print a "test page" yields a nonsensical garble). I am stumped!
Please - anybody out there have any idea what is causing this? The
driver is built-in to each of these windows OS's and it seems to
install just fine - what could it possible be????? I need to run it
under Windows XP because there is this specialty label program that
must be run under XP, so, I got to figure out what is going wrong here
- what I don't understand is why it prints so beautifully under the
command line redirect, but, all garbled up under windows - please
help!!!!!
Hans-Peter Diettrich
> I recently added an old dot matrix printer (Panasonic KX-P2023) and it
> prints just fine using the command line redirect (such as: dir>lpt1).
That's printing in text mode, i.e. sending the character codes to the
printer.
> I can also use the "type" command and print out text files and the
> print is very good (such as TYPE TEST.TXT>LPT! ). However, whenever I
> leave command prompt and go into windows and try to print anything, it
> goes crazy - the font is so bizarre I am perplexed as to what is
> happening - it is not even english nor any other language I can
> decipher - it is like a crazy mix of special characters and unknown
> symbols.
Then you most probably print in graphics mode, where the text is
converted into graphics by GDI and the printer driver. Either the driver
is buggy, or (most probably) your printer is not configured as assumed
by the driver. Perhaps your printer has switches to select an graphics
mode, like Epson or HPPL compatible? Then try different settings, or
look for an according option in your printer driver properties. Do you
have a handbook for your printer, explaining its graphics capabilities
and settings?
When you connected your printer to an serial port, check the settings of
that port. An parallel (printer) port should not normally require or
even allow for such settings.
AFAIR there exists a text-only driver on Windows, that does not
translate text into graphics. Try to use that driver for your printer,
to obtain at least readable text.
You also may try an different driver for your printer. If you can figure
out the set of commands for printing in graphics mode, of your and other
printers, select another printer with the same set. You can select to
print-to-file in the printer options, then inspect an hexdump of that
file and try to figure out what commands are sent to the printer. Select
an different driver and try again, until the output seems to contain the
correct printer commands. You can send that file to your printer as
well, using COPY file>LPT (binary mode!), in order to find out how it
appears on you printer.
> Please - anybody out there have any idea what is causing this? The
> driver is built-in to each of these windows OS's and it seems to
> install just fine - what could it possible be????? I need to run it
> under Windows XP because there is this specialty label program that
> must be run under XP, so, I got to figure out what is going wrong here
In this case the program most probably prints in graphics mode, so that
the text-only driver won't help :-(
BTW, you may find more assistance in a hardware group.
DoDi