Supporting Printers

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Chapter 21

• Supporting Printers

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You Will Learn

• How printers work
• How to install printers and share them over a
  local area network
• How to troubleshoot printer problems

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How Printers Work

• Connect to a PC by parallel, serial, USB, IEEE
  1394, or SCSI port, or by infrared, wireless, PC
  Card, or network connection
• Can be combined with fax machines, copiers and
  scanners in the same machine
• Most often use AC power

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Major Categories of Printers

• Impact printers
• Dot-matrix
• Non-impact printers
• Laser (highest quality)
• Inkjet
• Solid ink
• Dye-sublimation
• Thermal

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Laser Printers
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How a Laser Printer Works

• Places toner on electrically charged rotating
  drum
• Deposits toner on paper as paper moves through
  system at same speed the drum is turning

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Six Steps of Laser Printing

• Cleaning
• Conditioning
• Writing
• Developing
• Transferring
• Fusing

• Take place inside toner cartridge
• Use components that undergo the most wear

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Six Steps of Laser Printing (continued)
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Six Steps of Laser Printing (continued)
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Step 1 Cleaning
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Step 2 Conditioning
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Step 3 Writing
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Step 3 Writing

• Data from PC is received by formatter (1) and
  passed to DC controller (2) which controls laser
  unit (3)
• Scanning mirror (4) is turned clockwise by
  scanning motor
• Laser beam is reflected off scanning mirror,
  focused by focusing lens (5) and sent to the
  mirror (6)
• Mirror deflects laser beam to a slit in removable
  cartridge and on to the drum (7)

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Step 3 Writing (continued)
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Step 4 Developing
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Step 4 Developing (continued)
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Step 5 Transferring
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Step 6 Fusing
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Inkjet Printers
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Inkjet Printers (continued)

• Use ink-dispersion printing
• Popular small and print color inexpensively
• Most give photo-quality results(eg, PhotoREt II
  color technology)
• Paper quality affects quality of printed output
• Slower than lasers

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How an Inkjet Printer Works

• Print head moves across paper, creating one line
  of text with each pass
• Shoots ionized ink at a sheet of paper in a
  matrix of small dots
• Several technologies are used to form ink
  droplets (eg, bubble-jet)
• Require ink cartridges
• Nozzles tend to clog or dry out
• Can be cleaned automatically

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Inkjet Printer Ink Cartridges
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Dot-Matrix Printers

• Less expensive lesser quality
• Print multicopy documents (impact printer)
• Print head moves across the paper, using pins to
  shoot against a cloth ribbon and print a matrix
  of dots
• If print head fails, buy a new printer

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Dot-Matrix Printers (continued)
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Thermal Printers and Solid Ink Printers

• Relatively new printer technologies
• Non-impact printers that use heat to produce
  printed output

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Thermal Printers

• Use wax-based ink heated by pins that melt ink
  onto paper
• Popular in retail for printing bar codes and
  price tags
• Variation dye-sublimation printer

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Solid Ink Printers

• Store ink in solid blocks that melts into print
  head which spans width of paper
• Print head jets liquid ink onto paper as it
  passes by on the drum
• Simple design, excellent print quality, easy to
  set up and maintain
• Takes print head 15 minutes to heat up

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Installing and Sharing a Printer

• Local printers
• Network printers
• Default printer

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Installing a Local Printer

• Physically attach printer to computer
• Install printer drivers
• Have Windows do it
• Use printer manufacturers installation program
  (recommended)
• Test the printer

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Sharing a Printer with Others in a Workgroup

• To share a local printer using Windows
• File and Printer Sharing must be installed
• To use a shared printer on a remote PC
• Client for Microsoft Networks must be installed

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Using a Shared Printer

• Approaches to installing shared network printer
  drivers on remote PC
• Use drivers on CD
• Use printer drivers on host PC

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Using a Shared Printer (continued)
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Using a Shared Printer (continued)
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Using a Shared Printer (continued)
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Ways to Make a Printer Available on a Network

• Attach regular printer to a PC using a port on
  the PC
• PC can share printer with network
• Connect network printer with embedded logic to
  manage network communication directly to network
  with its own NIC
• Use a print server to control several printers

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Troubleshooting Guidelines for Printers

• How Windows handles print jobs
• Printer maintenance
• General printer troubleshooting
• How to troubleshoot problems specific to laser,
  inkjet, and dot-matrix printers

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How Windows Handles Print Jobs

• Windows NT/2000/XP or Windows 9x using a
  PostScript printer
• Converts print job data to PostScript language
• Windows 2000/XP can also use Printer Control
  Language (PCL)
• Windows 9x using a non-PostScript printer
• Converts print job data to Enhanced Metafile
  Format (EMF)

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How Windows Handles Print Jobs (continued)

• Text data lacking embedded control characters is
  sent as raw data (DOS)
• Spooling

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Printer Maintenance Procedures

• Vary depending on manufacturer and printer
• Make sure consumables for printer are on hand
• Research printer documentation or manufacturers
  Web site for specific maintenance tips
• During routine maintenance, clean inside and
  outside of the printer

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Using Printer Manufacturers Web Site as a
Resource

• Online documentation
• Knowledge base of common problems and what to do
  about them
• Updated device drivers
• Flash BIOS updates
• Catalog of options and upgrades for purchase

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Using Printer Manufacturers Web Site as a
Resource (continued)

• Replacement parts
• Printer maintenance kits
• Additional software

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General Printer Troubleshooting

• Isolate the problem
• Application attempting to use the printer
• OS and printer drivers
• Connectivity between PC and printer
• Printer itself
• Verify that a printer self-test page can print

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Isolating a Printer Problem
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Problems with Laser Printers

• Poor print quality or a Toner Low message is
  displayed
• Printer stays in warm-up mode
• Paper jam occurs or Paper Out message appears
• White streaks appear in the print

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Problems with Laser Printers (continued)

• Print appears speckled
• Printed images are distorted
• Printing is slow
• Portion of the page does not print

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Problems with Inkjet Printers

• Poor print quality
• Intermittent or absent printing
• Lines or dots missing from printed page
• Ink streaks appear on the printed page

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Problems with Inkjet Printers (continued)
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Problems with Dot-Matrix Printers

• Print quality is poor
• Print head moves back and forth but nothing prints

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Troubleshooting Printer Problems

• Problems printing from Windows
• Troubleshooting printing from applications
• Troubleshooting networked printers

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Summary

• Main types of printers and how they work
• Laser
• Inkjet
• Dot-matrix
• How to install a printer
• How to share a printer with others on a network
• How to troubleshoot printer problems