What's up with this?

[Old Hippie]

I was doing a good deed yesterday and gave an old buddy a printer I'd had sitting around. He called later in the day and asked how to install it.....I knew there'd be trouble.

It's an older Canon F60 connected by USB to an Asus A8N-SLI Premium motherboard.

Should be no problem, but no matter how I held my mouth, the board wouldn't recognize the printer. No new found hardware wizard. Scanning for new hardware didn't do a thing. Tried every USB connection. Printer installer couldn't find a printer. No way Jose!

The computer would recognize the card reader in the printer, but not the printer itself.

The only thing I couldn't try was another cable. No spare USB A to B cable to be had.

Any wise thoughts....about the printer situation?

Thanks!

 

[corkyg]

If the printer is an old one, it may also have a paralll port. Have you tried that?

You may also be in one of those situations where you need to install the printer drivers before connecting the printer.

 

[Old Hippie]

No parallel port, and the drivers wouldn't install untill the machine had found new hardware.

Unfortunately, the machine never recognized new hardware.

Round and round we go...........

 

[Lemon law]

I have not gone into detail, but almost a certainty, the F60 only needs a usb1.1 cable. And if you are using a usb2 cable,
that could be the problem right there. I have heard the same regarding other printers that only need a usb1.1 cable and balk when given a usb 2 cable. On the Canon website, you can find paid toll free phone support on discontinued printers, but the questions sent in by email are free. And last time I checked, I got a response.

The other missing item is what OS is your buddy running? I have not yet checked the Canon driver website, but I am almost certain they have win XP drivers, but they may not have Vista drivers. I doubt its in the motherboard, it sounds more like an OS and cable problem to me.

And think twice about giving that printer away because its a gem. Its an unchipped Canon using the BCI-3&6 cartridges
and you can get clone cartridges on line for dirt cheap.

 

[Zepper]

A try a new cable - the specs say USB 2.0 full speed (1.1 speed), so 2.0 cable should work. Next what OS is the "friend" running? Standard drivers won't work on Vista and the ones available for DL at Canon's site for the F60 are "limited functionality". Link to this info:">http://www.usa.canon.com/consu...=7174#SupportDetailAct</a>
And here are the installation instructions for XP earlier win may be different procedure:
XP install

.bh..

 

[Old Hippie]

I appreciate the insight!

The USB cable is the one that came with the printer. It used to work just fine, but may be buggered because it was in the box with the printer when stored.

And think twice about giving that printer away because its a gem. Its an unchipped Canon using the BCI-3&6 cartridges

Gem, shem....it's monstrous with no fax. I used XP Pro and he's using XP Student edition. The thing always worked for me, but was such a major PIA when interfacing thru a router, even with a dedicated print server, wasn't worth the time or trouble. Don't bother with a USB printer on a network.

The thing that got me is, the machine would recognize the card reader without giving the "New Found Hardware Wizard". It was just there.

After 4 hrs. of trying to install it, I told him to throw it in the trash. I was thru trashing my brain so he could save a buck.

Thanks L.L., I always appreciate insight!

 

[Old Hippie]

And here are the installation instructions for XP earlier win may be different procedure:

Thanks Zep, but those were the drivers I was trying to install.

No "New found Hardware Wizard" no install. Try as I may, they would not install without recognizing the printer.

I appreciate and respect the effort Zep!

 

[Lemon law]

To Old Hippie,

When I said the printer is a gem, its only concerned one criteria, for an ink jet printer, it can print very cheap using cloned cartridges. Something that many users would give their eye teeth for. Including modern Canon users. When you say its a hunk of junk because it lacks a fax or other features you need, only addresses the question of why you bought in the first place.

The question is and remains, why the found new hardware wizard fails to find the hardware? And there may be a difference between a student edition and a full version of XP in terms of built in drivers. So you are still in troubleshooting mode. (1) Its hard to think a USB 1.1 cable that came with your printer would die of old age. Damage maybe, old age no. So question, if you plug the old F60 printer and use the the original cable, will your non student OS see the printer? If it does, you know the problem, its the delimited student edition of XP or his usb drivers. After all, your computer saw it before in the new hardward wizard, why not now? (2) Next question, I am pretty sure the F60 is capable of standalone copying. No computer connection needed. And I am also fairly sure you have a little status screen. So boot it up and see if the status screen shows errors like no cartridges in printer. In which case you may need to clean dried ink off the printhead or ribbon cables before the found new hardware wizard will do its thing.

And last, for full stand alone network capacity, only Canon models with a R suffix have it. Its about $100.00 extra cost option. But I still share Canon printers on my network without the R designation. I gasp had to do some research on how to do it.

 

[Old Hippie]

When you say its a hunk of junk because it lacks a fax or other features you need, only addresses the question of why you bought in the first place.

Oh My, where should we start? I didn't realize I'd be using the FAX? I didn't realize the printer wouldn't cooperate in USB mode in a network environment?

if you plug the old F60 printer and use the the original cable, will your non student OS see the printer? If it does, you know the problem, its the delimited student edition of XP.

Sorry, we'll never know. I'm not carrying that thing back to my house to check it out. Retired, old, and moldy excludes returns. I've never had the XP student edition let me down. Besides getting all the updates and current MS validation, it's as current as current can come. All generic drivers are there.

After all, your computer saw it before in the new hardward wizard, why not now? (2) Next question, I am pretty sure the F60 is capable of standalone copying. No computer connection needed. And I am also fairly sure you have a little status screen. So boot it up and see if the status screen shows errors like no cartridges in printer. In which case you may need to clean dried ink off the printhead or ribbon cables.

I like your style. Same TSing mind as mine. Unfortunately the status screen gave no indication to the problem. Blank...didn't know or care about any problems.

The question is and remains, why the found new hardware wizard fails to find the hardware?

Yep, this is the basic question and would be the answer.

I really apppreciate your response!

 

[Lemon law]

To Old Hippie,

What still strikes me is its still a troubleshooting problem. Which always involves making a hypothesis and testing it. And if possible, not throwing good money after bad so cost free tests preferred. But no test=no answer.

And as you said, the #1 issue is why is your buddies computer not seeing the printer with the new hardware wizard? A perfect binary yes no question.

But at this point I am running low on ideas. But still have two more. (1) You say you can plug the printer in and it powers on without being attached to a computer. You say the Status screen stays blank. If I am not incorrect, it should say something like ready or on or something. But what happens when you try to copy something or make it go through a self test? Does the status screen then say something or is this something you already tried? The Canon website should have a list of trouble shooting steps you can go through and a totally blank screen may be a diagnostic. Cost free but can be time consuming to run the Canon troubleshooting. But if the printer is dead its dead. Could be something simple like a fuse or cleaning some contacts or something thats going to take expensive repair. (2) We have not established that your friend's computer has working USB ports. Any borrowed known working USB device can be used to test that. Plug the device into a usb port on his computer and see if the found new hardware wizard pops up. Binary yes no answer. If no, you may have your answer. Even a check in device manager will only show if the software USB drivers are installed, it does not check for disconnected or broken hardware.

 

[Old Hippie]

LL, I think you just shamed me into giving it another shot.

His USB ports work cause I transferred the drivers from a 4GB flash drive. The hardware wizard said "Hello".

I'm going to take my lappie, a new cable, fresh eyes, an affirmative attitude, and give it another shot.

Sometimes this stuff just frustrates me to no end.

I was a millright for 30 years and very seldom got cranky at the machinery....but then again, usually a bigger hammer was all ya needed.