Misbehaving technology!

December 15, 2006 10:39 AM

Help me troubleshoot my printer &/or computer, which is refusing to print! I suspect it's something simple, but there's...

I have a Powerbook & a relatively new (<1yr old) Samsung ML-2010 laser printer, but unfortunately not much computer savvy. The printer will happily spit out test sheets, but nothing else. Now, when I hit the print button, it starts out with "printer not responding;" last week it would get as far as something like "Gimp--printing 21%" before the printer stopped responding. I've tried all the usual I-don't-know-anything-about-gadgets tricks: cursing, turning the printer on and off, restarting the computer, taking the toner cartridge out and shaking it back and forth gently, etc. Where should I go from here?

posted by soviet sleepover to technology (4 comments total)

Run Printer Setup Utility (in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder) delete your printer from the list and add it back. Provided it's plugged in and turned on while you're doing this, it should appear automatically and you'll just need to select it and click add.

If that doesn't work, download the newest driver from Samsung and try again.
posted by boaz at 11:20 AM on December 15, 2006

Try using this driver instead of the open source gimp driver. Should take care of it...
posted by eleongonzales at 11:21 AM on December 15, 2006

I don't know nuthin' about Macs, but have you made sure the connecting cable is seated properly in both the computer and the printer itself?

And are the test sheets being printed by the printer (i.e.- are you prompting them from a button on the printeritself?) or are they being initiated by the computer?

If the computer is initiating test sheets and that's ok, then at least we know you've got it hooked up right and it's probably more of a software issue. If the printer is initiating test sheets but the computer is telling you the printer is not responding, then it sounds more like you've got a connection problem.

Also: has the printer worked before? You said that it's relatively new, but I don't know if you mean new to you, or new out of the box.
posted by PandemicSoul at 11:28 AM on December 15, 2006

Boaz, I knew it would be that incredibly simple! Thank you very much!
posted by soviet sleepover at 11:50 AM on December 15, 2006