Chapter 21 Supporting Printers. You Will Learn… How printers work How to install printers and...
-
Upload
geoffrey-dilling -
Category
Documents
-
view
215 -
download
0
Transcript of Chapter 21 Supporting Printers. You Will Learn… How printers work How to install printers and...
Chapter 21
Supporting Printers
You Will Learn…
How printers work How to install printers and share them over a
local area network How to troubleshoot printer problems
Main Types of Printers for Desktop Computing
Laser Ink-jet Dot-matrix
Laser Printers
Use electrophotographic process
Range from small, personal desktop models to large network printers capable of handling and printing large volumes continuously
Require interaction of mechanical, electrical, and optical technologies
How a Laser Printer Works
Places toner on electrically charged rotating drum
Deposits toner on paper as paper moves through the system at same speed the drum is turning
Six Steps of Laser Printing
1. Cleaning
2. Conditioning
3. Writing
4. Developing
5. Transferring
6. Fusing
Take place inside toner cartridge
Use components that undergo the most wear
Six Steps of Laser Printing
Step 1: Cleaning
Step 2: Conditioning
Conditions drum to contain a high electrical charge
Step 3: Writing
Laser beam discharges a lower charge to only those places where toner is to go
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 the removable cartridge and on to the drum (7)
Step 3: Writing
Step 4: Developing
Toner is placed onto the drum where the charge has been reduced
Step 4: Developing
Step 5: Transferring
Strong electrical charge draws toner off drum onto paper; takes place outside the cartridge
Step 6: Fusing
Heat and pressure fuse toner to paper
Ink-Jet Printers
Small Print color inexpensively Tend to smudge on
inexpensive paper Slower than lasers Quality of paper
significantly affects quality of printed output; use high-grade paper designed for an ink-jet printer
How an Ink-Jet 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)
Uses ink cartridges; best to use two separate cartridges – one for black ink and one for three-color printing
Ink-Jet Cartridges
Dot Matrix Printers
Less expensive; lesser quality Impact printer; can print multicopy documents Print head moves across width of paper, using
pins to print a matrix of dots on the page Uses a ribbon If print head fails, more economical to buy a
new printer than to replace the print head
Dot-Matrix Print Head
Printer Manufacturers
How WindowsHandles Print Jobs
Uses spooling For Windows 9x or Windows NT/2000/XP
using a PostScript printer• Print job data is converted to PostScript language
For Windows 9x applications using a non-PostScript printer• Print job data is converted to Enhanced Metafile
Format (EMF)
continued…
How WindowsHandles Print Jobs
For Windows 2000/XP• A printer language that competes with PostScript is
PCL (Printer Control Language)
Text data that contains no embedded control characters is sent to the printer as is
Installing and Sharing a Printer
Local printer• Connects to computer by way of a port on the
computer
Network printer• Accessed by way of a network
Default printer• The printer Windows prints to unless another is
selected
Install a Local Printer
Physically attach printer to computer (via parallel, serial, 1394, or USB port, or wireless access point)
Install printer drivers• Use Windows Printer window• Use printer manufacturer’s installation program
(best way)
Test the printer
Sharing a Printer with Others in a Workgroup
To share a local printer, File and Printer Sharing must be installed
To use a shared printer on a remote PC, Client for Microsoft Networks must be installed
Sharing a Local Printer with Others in a Workgroup (Windows 98)
Sharing a Local Printer Connected to a Windows 2000/XP Workstation
Using a Shared Printer
Two approaches to installing shared network printer drivers on a remote PC• Use the drivers on CD (either Windows CD or
printer manufacturer’s CD)
• Use printer drivers on host PC (quicker)
Using Manufacturer’s Printer Drivers on CD
Using Manufacturer’s Printer Drivers on CD
Using Printer Driverson the Host PC
Other Methods of Sharing Printers over a Network
A regular printer can be attached to a PC using a port on the PC, and then that PC can share the printer with the network
A network printer with embedded logic to manage network communication can be connected directly to a network with its own NIC
A dedicated device or computer called a print server can control several printers connected to a network
Troubleshooting Guidelines for Printers
Routine printer maintenance General printer troubleshooting Problems with laser printers Problems with ink-jet printers Problems with dot-matrix printers
Printer Maintenance
Procedures vary widely from manufacturer to manufacturer and printer to printer
Make sure consumables for the printer are on hand
Research printer documentation or manufacturer’s Web site for specific maintenance tips
Clean inside and outside of the printer
General Printer Troubleshooting
Isolate the problem• Application attempting
to use the printer
• OS and printer drivers
• Connectivity between PC and printer
• Printer itself
Addressing Printer Problems Caused by Hardware
Verify a printer self-page can print Check the printer cable
Problems with Laser Printers
Poor quality due to low toner Printer stays in warm-up mode Paper Jam or Paper Out message appears Printed images are distorted Printing is slow A portion of the page does not print
Problems with Laser Printers
Problems with Ink-Jet Printers
Print quality is poor Printing is intermittent or absent Lines or dots are missing from the printed page Ink streaks appear on the printed page
Problems with Ink-Jet Printers
Problems with Dot-Matrix Printers
Print quality is poor Print head moves back and forth but nothing
prints
Problems Printing from Windows
Try to print a test page using the Printer window Print spool might be stalled Reboot PC and verify that printer cable or cable
connections are solid Remove and reinstall printer driver In CMOS setup, check configuration of USB, serial,
or parallel port that the printer is using Try another printer driver Disable bidirectional support for the printer
continued…
Problems Printing from Windows
Check resources assigned to printer port Disable “Check Port State Before Printing” Verify printer properties; lower the resolution Disable printer spooling (if you can print from DOS
but not from Windows) Application may be incompatible with Windows
(Windows 9x) Bypass spooling by printing to a file Try the printer on another PC
Troubleshooting Networked Printers
Check that you can print from the computer that has the printer attached to it locally by printing a test page using the Printer window
At the remote computer, verify that you can access the computer to which the printer is attached
Using the Printer window, delete the printer, and then, using Windows 9x Network Neighborhood or Windows 2000/XP My Network Places, reconnect the printer
Chapter Summary
Three main types of printers, how they work, and how to support them
Printers connect to a PC by way of a parallel port, serial port, USB port, or wireless (radio or infrared) connection
How to install a printer How to share a printer with others on a network How troubleshoot printer problems