Vista / Win 7 Duplex Printing Troubleshooting Guide

[Bob_Headrick]

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@tviolet wrote:

Recently when I go to print on both sides, the paper comes out creased and the printing isn't finished. Could you tell me what is causing this? Thanks!

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Please read this post then provide some details. What printer model? What operating system? Are you printing with an automatic duplexer or manually changing the paper?

If this is a laser printer and you are manually duplexing then try turning the paper in the tray over.

If it is an automatic duplexer on an inkjet printer remove the duplexer and look for obstructions in the paper path.

[3bwings]

Greetings,

Got an HP officejet d135.  I'm using it with a linksys wireless G Printserver with multifunction support and a pc running windows 7 Home premium svc pack 1.  For normal printing everything is working fine, but when I try to use duplexing I get strange results. What I'm typically trying to do is print a booklet (2 pages on one landscape 8.5x11 with pagination set so I can fold the document pages down the middle and get a booklet).  I'm using WordPerfect's own booklet print settings to do this, and it works fine with my XP machine and the same print server on the same network.  But when I attempt the same thing on the windows 7 machine the entire document is shifted about .25 inches to the right on the page which results in the edge being 'clipped' off.  If that wasn't bad enough, the first page is spit out by the printer instead of being drawn back in for duplexing, and the 2nd page which should be on its back side prints on a new sheet.  I've followed the HP guides and duplexer is installed.  There is no 'features' tab under printing preferences, so I cannot seem to set the two-sided printing preference to 'automatic' as the instructions say.  Furthermore, if I try to print at high resolution, the document does not print.  All of these broken features work fine with my XP machine and the same print server.

Please help!

[Bob_Headrick]

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@3bwings wrote:

Greetings,

Got an HP officejet d135.  I'm using it with a linksys wireless G Printserver with multifunction support and a pc running windows 7 Home premium svc pack 1.  For normal printing everything is working fine, but when I try to use duplexing I get strange results. What I'm typically trying to do is print a booklet (2 pages on one landscape 8.5x11 with pagination set so I can fold the document pages down the middle and get a booklet).  I'm using WordPerfect's own booklet print settings to do this, and it works fine with my XP machine and the same print server on the same network.  But when I attempt the same thing on the windows 7 machine the entire document is shifted about .25 inches to the right on the page which results in the edge being 'clipped' off.  If that wasn't bad enough, the first page is spit out by the printer instead of being drawn back in for duplexing, and the 2nd page which should be on its back side prints on a new sheet.  I've followed the HP guides and duplexer is installed.  There is no 'features' tab under printing preferences, so I cannot seem to set the two-sided printing preference to 'automatic' as the instructions say.  Furthermore, if I try to print at high resolution, the document does not print.  All of these broken features work fine with my XP machine and the same print server.

Please help!

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The duplexer must be enabled in the driver.  Go to the Devices and Printers folder, right click on the Officejet D series and then select Printer Properties.  Next click on the Device Settings tab, then set the duplexer to be enabled and click OK.  This will allow the Automatic duplex setting to be selected.  You may need to experiment with the "preserve layout" option, it will adjust the margins.  Other than that I have no further information on hte margins.  If you are using the 32 bit version of Windows 7 you should be able to install the XP drivers, this may correct some of your issues.

[PACKER]

Hi Bob,

Thank you for the prompt reply.  Looks like we will have to take this in "baby steps"... :).  When I tried to do the first step you mentioned, I loaded a two sided doc in to the ADF, hit Menu, BUT when I went to look to hit 5, it is "Grayed Out".  So for whatever reason,  my HP does not seem to "think" it can Duplex as number 5 says "Two Sided", but again Grayed out.  So I went out to the Toolbox, to make sure it is configured correctly, and it does have Auto Two Sided Printing Module checked, and it does.  I am not sure what "next steps" I should do here.  Is there some other "Setup" functionality I should be doing directly within the Printer itself?  I looked around, but could not seem to find anything that I could do directly off the printer.  What baffles me is it use to work fine, so not sure what has changed here.  Thank you Bob for all your help with this duplexing issue, it is appreciated.  I look forward to any suggestions you may have to move through the trouble shooting.

[Bob_Headrick]

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@PACKER wrote:

Hi Bob,

Thank you for the prompt reply.  Looks like we will have to take this in "baby steps"... :).  When I tried to do the first step you mentioned, I loaded a two sided doc in to the ADF, hit Menu, BUT when I went to look to hit 5, it is "Grayed Out".  So for whatever reason,  my HP does not seem to "think" it can Duplex as number 5 says "Two Sided", but again Grayed out.  So I went out to the Toolbox, to make sure it is configured correctly, and it does have Auto Two Sided Printing Module checked, and it does.  I am not sure what "next steps" I should do here.  Is there some other "Setup" functionality I should be doing directly within the Printer itself?  I looked around, but could not seem to find anything that I could do directly off the printer.  What baffles me is it use to work fine, so not sure what has changed here.  Thank you Bob for all your help with this duplexing issue, it is appreciated.  I look forward to any suggestions you may have to move through the trouble shooting.

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OK, the option being grayed out on the front panel indicates the duplexer is not being recognized.  (This test was independent of the driver on the computer, it does not matter in this case.)  Let's try the following:  remove the duplexer by pressing in the buttons on the side.  Looking at the part that plugs into the printer there will be 4 gold pins on the right hand side.  Check to make sure they are the same, with none bent to the side or misaligned.  Clean the pins and also clean the pads in the printer these mate with with a lint free damp tissue.  Reinstall the duplexer and make sure it is snapped firmly into place.  Next turn the printer off and back on, then try the double sided copying test again.

If the duplexer is still not recognized you may need to replace the duplexer.  While rare I have seen one case of a duplexer failing with similar symptoms.  I usually find duplexers on eBay or similar if I need one.

[3bwings]

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@Bob_Headrick wrote:

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@3bwings wrote:

Greetings,

Got an HP officejet d135.  I'm using it with a linksys wireless G Printserver with multifunction support and a pc running windows 7 Home premium svc pack 1.  For normal printing everything is working fine, but when I try to use duplexing I get strange results. What I'm typically trying to do is print a booklet (2 pages on one landscape 8.5x11 with pagination set so I can fold the document pages down the middle and get a booklet).  I'm using WordPerfect's own booklet print settings to do this, and it works fine with my XP machine and the same print server on the same network.  But when I attempt the same thing on the windows 7 machine the entire document is shifted about .25 inches to the right on the page which results in the edge being 'clipped' off.  If that wasn't bad enough, the first page is spit out by the printer instead of being drawn back in for duplexing, and the 2nd page which should be on its back side prints on a new sheet.  I've followed the HP guides and duplexer is installed.  There is no 'features' tab under printing preferences, so I cannot seem to set the two-sided printing preference to 'automatic' as the instructions say.  Furthermore, if I try to print at high resolution, the document does not print.  All of these broken features work fine with my XP machine and the same print server.

Please help!

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The duplexer must be enabled in the driver.  Go to the Devices and Printers folder, right click on the Officejet D series and then select Printer Properties.  Next click on the Device Settings tab, then set the duplexer to be enabled and click OK.  This will allow the Automatic duplex setting to be selected.  You may need to experiment with the "preserve layout" option, it will adjust the margins.  Other than that I have no further information on hte margins.  If you are using the 32 bit version of Windows 7 you should be able to install the XP drivers, this may correct some of your issues.

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Bob, thanks for the quick reply. As I noted in my first post, I the duplexer is installed as per HP's instructions under device settings. Thank you for the screen shot of the printing preferences dialogue. Under the finishing tab, my computer says, Print on both sides (Manually). It does not give any other options. What am I doing wrong? I failed to mention I am using windows 7 64, so I assume that means the XP drivers are out of the question. Thanks p.s. any further info on the failure to print at higher resolutions?

[Bob_Headrick]

OK, I am also using Windows 7 x64.  The screen shots I gave above use the Officejet D Series (HP) driver, there is another version called Officejet D (Microsoft).  If you are using the Microsoft version please install the HP version, it is likely a bit later and may have some fixes that affect this.  You can update the driver as follows: from the Devices and Printers folder right click on the Officejet D series  and select Printer Properties, Advanced, New Driver, Next.  Now click on Windows Update and wait for the list to repopulate, then select HP, HP Officejet D Series (HP), Next, Finish.

[3bwings]

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@Bob_Headrick wrote:

OK, I am also using Windows 7 x64.  The screen shots I gave above use the Officejet D Series (HP) driver, there is another version called Officejet D (Microsoft).  If you are using the Microsoft version please install the HP version, it is likely a bit later and may have some fixes that affect this.  You can update the driver as follows: from the Devices and Printers folder right click on the Officejet D series  and select Printer Properties, Advanced, New Driver, Next.  Now click on Windows Update and wait for the list to repopulate, then select HP, HP Officejet D Series (HP), Next, Finish.

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Did as above, no change--still don't have anything but "print on both sides (manually)" available--and I did a test, it printed a stripe of text 3/4 of an inch wide down the middle of the page and then spit out the 1st page and started to print the next.  It has done this before.  Usually with a restart of the printer, it will at least try to print all the text, but something is clearly wrong here.  My Xp machine doesn't have these issues.  I am able to print the exact same file exactly as intended from my xp machine without rebooting anything.  By the way--I'm pretty sure I was already using the HP driver, but it was worth a try.

Also, I really don't think that the "print on both sides" option is what I want.  I don't have that option turned on in my XP machine's preferences (although they are slightly different).  I am using WordPerfect's own duplexing settings to print on both sides of a page.  Still, I don't understand why I can't get 'automatic' to show up as in your screenshots.

[Bob_Headrick]

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@3bwings wrote:

Did as above, no change--still don't have anything but "print on both sides (manually)" available--and I did a test, it printed a stripe of text 3/4 of an inch wide down the middle of the page and then spit out the 1st page and started to print the next.  It has done this before.  Usually with a restart of the printer, it will at least try to print all the text, but something is clearly wrong here.  My Xp machine doesn't have these issues.  I am able to print the exact same file exactly as intended from my xp machine without rebooting anything.  By the way--I'm pretty sure I was already using the HP driver, but it was worth a try.

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It certainly seems your printer installation is corrupted.  At this point I would suggest installing an alternate print driver.  The Deskjet 970c driver should be a good match for the D series hardware.  Go to the printers folder, right click on the Officejet D series, Printer Properties, Ports and note the port that is being used.  Now go to Add a Printer, Local Printer, select the port found above, then select the HP Deskjet 970cse or cxi.

Once the installation is complete you will need to enable the duplexer as described previously, then try printing from your program.  If this is successful you could make this the default printer and change the name to something more appropriate than Deskjet 970 series.

[3bwings]

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@Bob_Headrick wrote:

It certainly seems your printer installation is corrupted.  At this point I would suggest installing an alternate print driver.  The Deskjet 970c driver should be a good match for the D series hardware.  Go to the printers folder, right click on the Officejet D series, Printer Properties, Ports and note the port that is being used.  Now go to Add a Printer, Local Printer, select the port found above, then select the HP Deskjet 970cse or cxi.

Once the installation is complete you will need to enable the duplexer as described previously, then try printing from your program.  If this is successful you could make this the default printer and change the name to something more appropriate than Deskjet 970 series.

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Did the install as described with the cse, but test print fails.  Are there additional steps since I'm using a print server?