T61, Advanced Dock Parallel Port problem

[Edward Mendelson]

Here's a puzzle I hope some experts here can help me to solve. I have two T61s and an Advanced Dock, with a parallel cable connecting the dock to a LaserJet printer. Both T61s are running XP.

The first of the two T61s had the XP preload. At first, I was unable to print from this machine through the parallel port. Finally, in the XP device manager, I went to the Port's "Port Settings" tab, and enabled "Enable Legacy plug and play detection." The port and printer then worked perfectly.

Then I swapped into this same T61 (in the same dock), a different hard disk with a fresh XP installation from the second T61 (this is a fresh install, not based on the preload). Now, no matter what I do, I can't get the parallel port to work - no data gets from the computer to the printer. I tried the same setting in device manager - no luck. If I try copy a file at a command prompt to lpt1, Windows tells me that LPT1 does not exist.

Remember, this is the SAME machine with the same BIOS that worked perfectly well with the parallel port using the preload XP setup. In the BIOS, the port is set to ECP, and I've enabled "Legacy Devices in the Dock" in the BIOS settings for the dock.

Can anyone tell me how to get the parallel port working - without going back to the preload??? Thanks for any help.

[RonS]

Do other devices work on the dock with the second hard drive... USB ports, etc?

[Edward Mendelson]

[quote="RonS"]Do other devices work on the dock with the second hard drive... USB ports, etc?[/quote]

Yes - I've got a keyboard, mouse, VGA monitor, ethernet cable, and external USB hard drive attached to the dock, and all work perfectly. (Sorry, should have mentioned that earlier.)

[basketb]

I've been having some (though completely different) printer problems myself and saw that in the windows troubleshooting guide (for local printers) there is mentioning of how to remove and add a port. Have you tried that one:

Is your port working?
Click Investigate to have the troubleshooter detect whether your port is working. This might take several minutes.
Important

The following procedure might require you to restart your computer, which will close this troubleshooter. If possible, view this troubleshooter on another computer while you perform the steps on the computer you are troubleshooting. If no other computer is available, write down the instructions on this page before you restart your computer.

After your computer restarts, reopen this troubleshooter and answer each question as you answered it initially. When you reach this page again, answer the question at the bottom, and then click Next.
You might have a faulty port. To test your port connection, try to print with the printer connected to a different port (if one is available).

If your port is malfunctioning, you might be able to solve the problem by removing and reinstalling the port.

To remove your printer port


Open Device Manager in Control Panel.
Double-click Ports, and then right-click the appropriate port for your printer (often LPT1).
Click Uninstall, click OK, and then restart your computer.
Note

To open Device Manager, click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.

When you restart your computer, Windows should detect your printer port and guide you through the steps for reinstalling it.

If Windows does not detect your port, install it manually.

To install a port manually


Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Click Printers and Other Hardware, and then under See Also, click Add Hardware.
Click Next, and wait for Windows to search for Plug and Play devices.
If no Plug and Play devices are found, a list of devices appears. Click Add a new hardware device, and then click Next.
Click Install the hardware that I manually select from a list, and then click Next.
Click Ports, and then click Next.
In the Manufacturers list, click Standard port types.
In the Models list, click Printer Port, and then click Next.
Follow the wizard's instructions to complete the installation.

Can you print your document after you remove and reinstall your printer port?

[Edward Mendelson]

That was the first thing I tried (sorry for not saying so in my first message!). Didn't help at all.

[RonS]

With each of your hard drives, do this:
1. Open Device Manager
2. Expand "Ports" and double-click "Printer Port"
3. Click the Resources tab and see the I/O start address

Are they the same for each hard drive?

[Edward Mendelson]

Weirdly enough, this problem solved itself when I turned on the machine again this morning. (I had powered it down and restarted it more than once yesterday, without effect.) So I won't complain.

What's odd is that the HP LaserJet Software installer can't see the printer when it searches for devices - but the manually-installed driver works perfectly. Windows is a strange beast.

RonS: I wish I had thought of your suggestion - that probably would have let me solve this by hand a lot sooner. I'll remember it if it ever happens again.