[lamaroe]

Thanks for your response,

Yes I do have it plugged in. Which brings me to another odd tip that came from lexmark's handbook and instruction sheet. Their advice when installing the software is to make sure the USB is NOT plugged into the computer! Admittedly a stupid thing to suggest (how is the computer supposed to detect the printer? without it, there would be no installation of software) i tried it out of desperation and of course it didn't work. They also make it very clear to cancel all "add new hardware" screens that come up, and although that may work for some people, the setup just froze after installing and copying files for me so no printer was installed.

I downloaded all the patches for Windows ME from microsoft yesterday, though there were no driver updates.

I should mention that the USB ports in the back of my computer are either faulty or less powerful than the ones in the front. I remember trying to install dsl a while back and the computer would not detect the modem since it was plugged into a back usb, but as soon as i plugged it into the front, it was detected. Keeping this in mind, I have always had the USB for the printer in the front figuring that this would alleviate a power problem at least? My printer before this one was connected to a printing port (LPT1 i think) and this same usb cord and that printer worked fine. But i assume that the LPT port was the main connection through which communication went.

Again, thanks for your responses and help. I appreciate your perseverance through this with me!

[Advertisements]

I have 3 general suggestions;

I: Try either copying your cd filesto hard drive an workin it that way, and also try going into the cd to try and directly find the driver install, skip all that auto install and auto setup in the basic D:/ section of the cd and go into the D:/drivers or D:/setup that you might hav for a folder on the cd an try installin that way.

II: Im not to sure about usb ports sometimes, but it can make an odd difference ifyou ttry operating/rebooting/reinstalling usb devices if you try it systematiclyfrom port to port, one of themmay end up working either better all around or just better for taht type of device.

III: One last resort might be ckekcing how your resource allocations are and adjusting them even if they show no errors, it may also help to check your bios and either adjust your clocking or perhaps periphials or chipset or something or manythings along those lines.... i know ive tryied befoer to use ports and drives ivehad not only with invalid resources, but actaully disabled by me before in bios for one dumb reawson or another.

P.S., onelast possibility is if you try rolling back various drivers, sometimes the updates are/make things worse then previous versions.

Edited by Destructo Roboto, 09 June 2005 - 11:44 AM.

[Destructo Roboto]

I have 3 general suggestions;

I: Try either copying your cd filesto hard drive an workin it that way, and also try going into the cd to try and directly find the driver install, skip all that auto install and auto setup in the basic D:/ section of the cd and go into the D:/drivers or D:/setup that you might hav for a folder on the cd an try installin that way.

II: Im not to sure about usb ports sometimes, but it can make an odd difference ifyou ttry operating/rebooting/reinstalling usb devices if you try it systematiclyfrom port to port, one of themmay end up working either better all around or just better for taht type of device.

III: One last resort might be ckekcing how your resource allocations are and adjusting them even if they show no errors, it may also help to check your bios and either adjust your clocking or perhaps periphials or chipset or something or manythings along those lines.... i know ive tryied befoer to use ports and drives ivehad not only with invalid resources, but actaully disabled by me before in bios for one dumb reawson or another.

P.S., onelast possibility is if you try rolling back various drivers, sometimes the updates are/make things worse then previous versions.

Edited by Destructo Roboto, 09 June 2005 - 11:44 AM.

[lamaroe]

Thank you for your suggestions

I have been trying the USB port rotation as you mentioned everytime i reinstall which has been more than ten times

For some reason, today's attempt at installing the lexmark driver from the downloaded version got it installed! But alas, it's still not printing. This is interesting though, i noticed that every once in a while when i hit print that the print dialogue shows the document being printed to file rather than the usual cannont communicate with the printer. I double checked and no i'm not set to "print to file".

Could you explain your last suggestion a little more about resource allocations and the like? I checked to see if i had enough RAM to use print jobs and i'm pretty sure I fall within the limit. The only place where disabling is possible on my computer is under device manager which aggravatingly mocks me with its conclusion that all the devices necessary for the printer (from USB port to USB HID) are in "proper working order".

Thanks again for your suggestions and response.

[Destructo Roboto]

This hass the potential to interfear with other programs but hopefully it should inform you if the settings will interfear with another device, at least in the xp area... access the driver info area where you can reinstall, roll back etc to drivers, then click the resources tab.... then try adjusting your resources to something else... hopefully that doesnt interfear with something else caus that has potential irritating if not dangerous results(aka restart into safe mode). Try that for various devices from printer port to usb hub to printer itself if it has one.

Thier is another place that many people can adjust the bios settings to, well i mean go into bios and many people can adjust resource settings, paralel port, serial, usb stuff thier depending on their bios variations. That to is potentially dangerous in which you would hav to go bak an fix it if you do somthing bad.

As to any specifics on which settings might work better then others.. i dont know... oh yes, and if even that fails, it might be rolling back your usb drivers a fewlevels might actually work or if youtried uninstalling ps2, perhaps that interferes with the devices operation.

The last thing i can think of that might help now is if you go into conttrol panel-admin settings-and then click on which ever one of them is the control for which operations start and whichdont.

[lamaroe]

Hello again,

I am going to try your suggestions tomorrow, fresh in the morning. I am just posting to see if this is signficant enough to indicate the source of the problem. Whenever I take a look at the Lexmark Solution center the status says the printer "cannot communicate" but then i looked down at the cartridges and both the color and black cartridges had faded bars (the ink level indicator) and a question mark on the bar. Although the black ink cartridge is used and old, the color cartridge is new... maybe the printer is unable to detect the cartridges or something around that? I just checked to make sure the stickers were off and reinstalled the cartridges making sure they were the right number. But there is no change in status or even printing.

I think what is going to help is manually installing each file. I went through the device manager and updated all the USB related devices and after I did so, the communication problem was replaced by "printing to file" which I checked again and am definitely not set to. i think there is just a problem with this driver, cd, or the way my computer is handling the files and that I may have to uninstall, and manually install each driver file.

Thank you for your persistent help with this, I truly appreciate it.

[Murray S.]

Get a new black cartridge.. Most new printers won't print anything if one of the cartridges run out !!

Murray

[lamaroe]

Heh,

the black cartridge is not empty, i just transferred it from my old printer to the new printer. but i took your advice and still no printing :-(

the problem is a communication error as in it won't even send the message to print. if ONLY it were a simple problem like an empty cartridge

Thanks for your response though.

[pkarlos_76]

Heh,

the black cartridge is not empty, i just transferred it from my old printer to the new printer. but i took your advice and still no printing :-(

the problem is a communication error as in it won't even send the message to print. if ONLY it were a simple problem like an empty cartridge

Thanks for your response though.

Did u find a solution? Ours stops prinitng part way through the document usuually at 12 to 30 percent. I've used the latest drivers from lexmark on their site and we are using windows me..... we get cannot communicate error and yes it uses a virtual usb device

Edited by pkarlos_76, 12 November 2005 - 08:02 PM.

[Retired Tech]

Click start then printers and faxes, right click the printer, click properties, click advanced to put the dot in print after last page is spooled, click apply

This will mean the printer will take longer to start printing but should not start until it has all the data

[Jack123]

Lamaroe-Lexmark-X4250 Printer
13th Nov-2005

Usually – You want to Install the USB Driver 1st – Then Restart PC – Then Connect USB Device to PC – Plug & Play will then find [New Hardware & Install]

Here is a Routine to have [Device Manager] view [Non Present Devices] – This will permit [Device Manager] to give you a History of [Installed Devices] & [Failed Installed Devices] as well as [Failed Uninstalled Devices]

The [Non Present Devices] will be indicated by the [Light/Faded Gray Print] –

Preparation Process for [DEVICE MANAGER] to View [Non Present Devices] – This is a 2 Step process that needs to be done only once –

Step – 1 Set [Folder Options] to [Show Hidden Files & Folders]
Step – 2 Set [Device Manager] to [Show Non Present Devices]
______________________________________________________________

Step – 1 Open [Control Panel] and set [Folder Options] to show [Hidden Files & Folders] – (1 time process)

(1) – Click [Start] Button
(2) – Scroll up to [SETTINGS] > Click on [CONTROL PANEL]
(3) – Open [Folder Options]
(4) – Click on [VIEW] Tab
(5) – Scroll down to [Hidden Files & Folders]
(6) – Click the [SHOW HIDDEN FILES & FOLDER] Option
(7) – Deselect OPTION – [Hide Protected OS Files – Recommended]
(8) – Click [OK]
(9) – Close [Control Panel]
_________________________________________________________________

Step – 2 Prep [DEVICE MANAGER] to view [Non Present Devices] –( 1 time process)

(1) – Right Click [MY COMPUTER] > Click [PROPERTIES] on Drop Down Menu –
(2) – Click [ADVANCED] Tab – (on System Properties)
(3) – Click [ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES] Tab -
(4) – Under [SYSTEM VARIABLES] Section – Click [NEW] Tab –
(5) – In [NAME] Section – Type – devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices
(6) – In [VALUE] Section – Type the number 1
(7) – Close out by Clicking [OK] Tabs – 3 Times – (3 levels/panels to close)
(8) – Click on [START] Button > Then click on [RUN] –
(9) – Type – devmgmt.msc – and then Click [OK] – This will open [DEVICE MANAGER]
(10)– Click [VIEW] on Menu > Click [Show Hidden Devices] on Pop Down Menu –
(11) – View [Hidden Devices] – Indicated by Faded Gray Print – (Close when completed) –
(12) – Restart Computer – (To ensure a good [Initial] beginning -
_________________________________________________________________

Standard Process to Open [DEVICE MANAGER] with [Show Hidden Devices] Option set -

(1) – Right Click [MY COMPUTER]
(2) – Browse down [Menu] to [Properties] > Double Click to Open Properties Page
(3) – Click on [HARDWARE] Tab
(4) – Click on [Device Manager] Tab
(5) – Click on [View} on Menu Bar
(6) – **Click on [Show Hidden Files]**
(7) – Expand Folders as reqyired
(8) – You need to double left click or right click each line to reveal additional info
(9) – [Non Present Devices] will be denoted by –(Light/faded gray print)

** Step 6 will have to be set to [Show Hidden Files] on each opening of [Device Manager] **
___________________________________________________________________

Explore [Device Manager] Folders by expanding & Opening all items related to Printer such as (but not limited to):

1- USB Printer Support
2- USB Mass Storage
3- Lexmark Printer
4- Old installed printer
5- Unknown Devices
6- Problem Devices

Do not concern yourself with [Non Plug & Play Devices] at this time – Post back your findings – You may see many Instances of Same Entries of Non Present Devices – This will show all Failed Uninstalling Attempts and/or Failed Installing Attempts –

Most of the [Non Present Devices] are just cluttering up – but there are some legitimate ones – these are acting as [Place Markers/Holders] for Devices that are [Properly Installed] but are not Connected or Powered On – such as Printers and Cameras –

This is to prevent PnP from [Finding New Hardware] every time you Turn your Printer ON or when you Connect your Camera – [PnP Inhibiter] – So the [Wrong Ones] will also prevent PnP from [Finding New Hardware] – Which is Your Problem – The Trick is to eliminate the Problem One/s –

So now you have a [Tool] that will permit you to see what your PC really has Installed – Post back what you now are able to see in [Device Manager]- & will try to guide you thru the [Selection Process] of Uninstalling the problem Device/s -

NOTE - (This is just one of the [USB Anomalies] that may cause your problem) –

Jack123

Edited by Jack123, 12 November 2005 - 11:57 PM.