LPT1 – “Access is denied” from CMD

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I am trying to install an HP laser on a legacy Progress Open Edge system on a Windows XP Pro 1-user server.

[*]From the CMD window, per Windows Troubleshooter, I’ve tried “ECHO Hello CTRL/L dir > lpt1” and “copy con lpt1 ENTER showpage ENTER CTRL/Z”
[INDENT][/INDENT][*]Both generate “access is denied”
[*]In the legacy system, I get “Unable to open file LPT1;. Error = 13 (98)”

NEW RESULTS
THE FREAKING PRINTER IS BAD???
I replaced the HP with the old OKI, and the legacy system works AND the CMD stuff works.
HOW CAN THAT BE?
I’ve left all the info below because I am tired (I hate the client’s laptop keyboard!) and maybe it will be useful.
Should I call HP?

DETAILS

[*]Printer = new HP P2035
[*]I installed it using the HP CD drivers (the 1st I tried did not work, but 2nd one did) – I’ve printed “test page”, a page from Firefox, and Notepad
[*]Port = LPT1 (I’ve tried 3 different cables)
[*]Google: I’ve had no luck looking for the Windows CMD error OR the Progress Message.
[*]In Device Manager I’ve uninstalled the LPT1 port and rebooted (DM shows it gone, and it automatically reappears after rebooting)
[*]This system used to work with a similar OKI printer that died
[*]The new printer DID print out several sheets from the legacy system earlier today (the client had someone messing around with it, but it was accidental – he doesn’t know what he did)
[*]Windows is XP Pro SP 2 (3?)

As is obvious, I NEED HELP!

If you need more info, ask whatever. Thanks very much.

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That HP is USB only so it’s not connected to LPT1. You need to emulate LPT1 for that to work.
Sharing the printer seems to be the answer.
http://superuser.com/questions/182655/how-do-i-simulate-a-parallel-lpt-printer-with-a-usb-printer

cheers, Paul

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That HP is USB only so it’s not connected to LPT1. You need to emulate LPT1 for that to work.
Sharing the printer seems to be the answer.
http://superuser.com/questions/182655/how-do-i-simulate-a-parallel-lpt-printer-with-a-usb-printer

cheers, Paul

Thanks, but, no, the HP DOES have a parallel connection. I didn’t think they would still make any, so I called HP.
My legacy system requires a laser printer with PCL-5 and the parallel port. I’ve used various OKI, Brother, and HP printers over the years.

So I am still trying to figure out why the HP won’t talk to the command box or my old system but it will talk to Windows.

PS – I will investigate your link. I wasn’t sure if there would be a way to do that, but in the meantime I choose the easy route.

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The HP web site says USB only but the printer spec shows parallel as well – can’t even trust the manufacturer.
http://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=CE461A&opt=B19&sel=PRN

It’s likely to be the HP bloatware drivers that are causing the issue. Can you remove all the HP software, delete the printer in Device Manager, then reboot and then let Windows find its own drivers?

cheers, Paul

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Thanks,. Paul –

But I don’t want to miss your point.

[*]How can I remove the HP software and printer?

[*]Device Manager doesn’t show printers, Control Panel doesn’t have delete option, the printer properties only gives me options to change the driver.

[*]And, “let Windows find its own drivers”is what I did.

[*]But the only choices are those on the HP DVD – the PC is not connected to the web.
[*]The 1st time, Windows selected the first NT driver – that didn’t work in Windows (I don’t remember if I tried the DOS stuff. I deleted the printer (I think by highlighting and hitting DEL) and rebooted.
[*]Next time Windows found a different driver, and this worked with Windows but gave me “access denied” from CMD..

[/LIST]

But, as I type this, I realize I need to methodically go through each driver they supplied and test each one.

[*]From the command box, do “copy con lpt1 ENTER showpage ENTER CTRL/Z”

[*][*]I am expecting that if I get that to work, my legacy 4GL system will also work

[*]Print a “Test Page” from Windows (Windows printing is desirable but not essential)
[/LIST]

Thank you for the gift of your replies. You are helping me maintain my sanity.

PS – HP Chat help was absolutely useless. They told me I had to find help on a Linux support site…

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You may be able to delete the printer from Control Panel > Printers and Devices.

cheers, Paul

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I’ll go out on a limb here and suggest a re-look at the printer cables. The latest cables were marked with IEEE-1284 and generally were required as newer printers came out “back in the day”. As I recall there were 3 settings in the BIOS of computers as to the capability of the parallel-port/LPT1 such as ECP. These things could drive a person up the wall when not set right.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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What you are doing here is real old school. It should be backwards compatible, but that’s in theory only. Even “advanced” parallel port capabilities (EPP and ECP) go back a long, long way.

Here are my suggestions.

1). The old rules required a colon after every device name. It’s safer to use those because that is unambiguous to the command interpreter. Without them the command interpreter has to fall back to reserved file names for devices, and those rules may have changed with NTFS. Thus, the console device is CON: and not just CON, the first parallel port is LPT1: and not just LPT1, and so forth;

2). Showpage command? I thought that was PostScript only? I’m not aware of any PCL Showpage command. Even if there is a PCL Showpage, it would have to be bracketed by Escape characters. In PCL all data in the datastream is considered printable by default. You use Escape characters to “escape” into command mode, then “escape” a second time to leave command mode. PostScript is the opposite. All data in the datastream is considered to be commands by default. There are PostScript commands (I don’t know what they are) whose purpose is to define and encapsulate printable data;

3). Both PCL and PostScript got “one-upped” by a meta-language called Printer Job Language, or PJL. This happened because dual PCL and PostScript printers became commonplace, and switching back and forth became a problem. PJL solved these problems, but I spent several fun years with dual rendering language printers and no PJL. PJL was a godsend! Note that PJL did not replace PCL or PostScript, it enhanced and added to them;

4). Your [Ctrl-Z] should pass through the session OK. I don’t see a problem with that one;

5). You may need to alter Windows EPP, ECP, or interrupt support. I’ll post my settings in a separate message (this is getting long).

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Note: Screens are from Windows 7. They should be compatible though.

46393-Parallel-Port-1-Property-1

46394-Parallel-Port-1-Property-2

46395-Parallel-Port-1-Property-3

46396-Parallel-Port-1-Property-4

46397-Parallel-Port-1-Property-5

HTH

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