If you are having problems with your StyleWriter or StyleWriter II printer here are the steps to determine where the problem is.
Step 1
Shut down your Macintosh.
Step 2
Turn off your Macintosh and StyleWriter printer.
Step 3
Remove all paper from printer.
Step 4
Disconnect the serial cable printer cable from the computer and the printer.
Step 5
Disconnect the power cable.
Step 6
Wait approximately 15 seconds, then reconnect the power cable to the printer.
Step 7
Reload the paper in the printer gently. Do not force the paper into the printer.
Step 8
Generate a test page on the StyleWriter:
- StyleWriter: With the printer off, hold down the form feed button, then press the power button and release both buttons simultaneously.
- StyleWriter II: With the printer off, hold down the power button until it starts to generate the test page.
Step 9
If the test page prints improperly or does not print:
1. Remove the ink cartridge from the printer.
2. Verify that the tape used during shipping has been removed from the cartridge.
3. Manually clean the cartridge if necessary by covering the ink jets with a wet cloth or paper towel and sling the cartridge.
4. Reinsert the ink cartridge.
5. Generate another test page.
6. If the printer still does not properly print a test page, replace the ink cartridge.
7. Generate another test page.
Step 10
If the test page prints properly, reconnect the printer to the computer. You can connect to either the printer, or the modem port, but you must make sure that the same port is selected in the Chooser.
Step 11
Remove any spooled files in the PrintMonitor Documents folder in the System Folder. Here is how to do this:
1. Open the PrintMonitor Documents folder, if there is anything in the folder, throw the entire folder in the Trash.
2. Restart the computer, and empty the Trash. If there are documents in this folder waiting to be printed and you do not remove the folder immediately, it tries to print those documents. Corrupted PrintMonitor documents will cause error messages, so you want to remove all the spooled documents.
Step 12
Open the Chooser and select the correct printer driver. Make sure that you select the proper driver for the printer. If you select a StyleWriter driver for a StyleWriter II, you will get error messages and will not be able to print.
Step 13
Select the proper serial port (modem or printer).
Step 14
Turn background printing off. This is not necessary for printing, but makes troubleshooting much easier
Step 15
Make sure AppleTalk is inactive.
Step 16
Print from the Finder. From the file menu choose Print Window, Print Desktop, or Print Directory depending on what you have on your desktop.
Step 17
If the printer prints from the Finder, but not from an application, the problem is with the application program and you need to contact the software vendor to troubleshoot the problem.
Step 18
If you cannot print from the Finder, restart with extensions off (hold down the shift key during the startup procedure). If this solves the problem, follow normal Extension troubleshooting procedures.
Step 19
If you still have problems, reinstall of the printer software :
1) Open the Extensions folder and throw away the PrintMonitor and StyleWriter and StyleWriter II files.
2) Restart the Macintosh with extensions off.
3) Reinstall the printer software.
Step 20
If you still have problems, do a clean reinstall of the system software and printer software.
Note: Check Apple Software Updates sites for the latest version of StyleWriter software.
This article was published in the "Information Alley":
Volume II, Issue 2, Page 5