I still can't solve this print problem- whenever I print CPU usage skyrockets to 100%

[magomago]

Okay I have it set in Win2kpro to use any request and in the bios it is set to ECP+EPP and I have it assigned to "auto" on the paralell port....

I'm at a loss...anyone with a A7n8x-d using 1002A Uber can you post all your bios information cocerning paralell ports? (This is like 3 lines at most)

thanks...

 

[ElFenix]

what are you printing?

 

[Viper GTS]

Set it to print to file, eliminate the parallel port altogether.

I would much sooner suspect a driver/software issue rather than hardware/BIOS settings.

Viper GTS

 

[pmailloux]

Sounds like the exact same problem I had with both my HP Inkjet printers when hooked up with Parralel cable, I switched them to USB problem solved, this is on Win XP Pro.

 

[magomago]

I can't switch to USB

But it worked fine on my old 500mhz rig...why not the same here?

also print to file asks me to save a .prn file...what is this?

 

[Slammy1]

Heh. Before I saw you were running Win2k, I asked myself... I wonder if they're running Win 2k? See, I've seen similar issues with the way it handles the paging file. If you have a decent amount of memory, try setting your paging file to a single size 2X your RAM. On a lower memory system, try 2.5X your RAM. It solves a lot of little Win2k problems.

 

[magomago]

My pagefile is 1.3gigs minimum and 2 gigs max (I have it that big because occaisonally I make my own backgrounds and need one that big)

so I hope i don't need to raise it more

EDIT:

I'll change it to 1024 and see what happens

 

[azkiwi]

I would be interested to hear a solution too - the same thing happens with my HP USB printer and my non-USB HP laser. I thought this was one thing sp3 was sposed to fix...

 

[Slammy1]

Originally posted by: magomago
My pagefile is 1.3gigs minimum and 2 gigs max (I have it that big because occaisonally I make my own backgrounds and need one that big)

so I hope i don't need to raise it more

EDIT:

I'll change it to 1024 and see what happens

Let me know. I've seen it solve a number of similar freeze-up issues on friends' computers. I also switch mine to a secondary drive. I figure the SCSI bus can transfer from 2 drives simultaneously but the slow down is disk access. Along the idea of RAID.

 

[magomago]

nope

btw for some reason I also cannot get linux to print correcrlt.....I mean not at all. I print and nothing happens

 

[Slammy1]

I found this on the MS database.:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;318273

"100 Percent CPU Usage Occurs When You Print on an LPT Printer Port
The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP1
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP1
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP2
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP3

This article was previously published under Q318273
SYMPTOMS
When you print on an LPT printer port, 100 percent CPU usage occurs until the print job is completed. This slows down other programs until the print job is completed. In some case, other programs may slow down enough that they seem completely unresponsive. This behavior affects all power users who have many programs running at one time.
CAUSE
This behavior occurs because Windows does not have interrupt support for LPT printers.
WORKAROUND
To work around this behavior, print to a Universal Serial Bus (USB) printer port. If the printer does not have this capability, use a parallel-USB cable.
STATUS
This behavior is by design.
Last Reviewed: 12/10/2002
Keywords: kbprb kbprint KB318273"

 

[Budman]

STATUS
This behavior is by design.

It's not a bug,it's an undocumented feature.

 

[magomago]

They designed it that way!!

What the hell are they trying to do? Force us users with Paralell port printers to get USB ones?


Meh...why can't they just fix it in a SP

 

[oldfart]

My HP 970 is like that. With a parallel port, my PC slows to a crawl when printing. Switched to USB, and problem is gone.

 

[xgsound]

Since there is no interupt support , try setting the bios to ? SPP ? which does not require an interupt.
This works for me with HP 895 and win98SE for multitasking. I also tried it with an Cannon I750 , but with only partial success (I guess noone wants to work on thier parallel drivers anymore) Be sure to set the spooling to complete spooling first, as this becomes an automated "print to file" then print from file.
Jim

 

[magomago]

Where do I set it to complete spooling perchance?


BTW I just discovered that in the properites of my printer the "Enable Bi-Directional support" is greyed out and cannot be checked