I had an old Panasonic dot-matrix printer which recently broke, so I
purchased a used one on e-bay (model KX-P2123). The item arrived in
very good condition, however when I connected it to the computer, it
just started printing random gibberish, and would not stop until I
shut it off. Does anyone know how to solve this problem? Is this a
problem in the printer itself or in my computer?

---

Clarification of Question by frumgenius-ga on 04 Apr 2006 12:00 PDT

My computer runs on Win XP Pro, however the point-of-sale program
which uses the printer runs on Ms-Dos. Perhaps this will give more
insight into the issue.

---

Clarification of Question by frumgenius-ga on 04 Apr 2006 12:03 PDT

Thew printer is the same model as my old one that I had previously.

have u tried downloading any drivers?

Yep, that usually is a wrong driver, so yes, I   agree with the prof
that you need to obtain the correct driver.

Did you just plug it in?

If it's different model to your old printer, you probably should have
'installed' it as a new printer. Otherwise, the computer will still
think that you are using the old printer.

Please say what computer you are using (PC, Mac, Atari, Commodore 64,
Apple II) and which Operating System is installed (CP/M, DOS, Windows
3.1, etc.)

Does the printer immediately start to print gibberish when powered on,
regardless of whether it is connected to the computer? If so, does the
gibberish start out the same all the time?

The printer will be printing gibberish because the existing printer
driver is conflicting with the eprom hardware within the printer.  The
printer is fine, it is just a driver issue as the other comments also
suggest.  Although the printer is the same model it may have a
completely different firmware to your previous printer and therefore
this would cause the issue.

The best plan of action is to ensure this printer is not connected to
the computer, then go to start->Settings->Printers and delete the
printer from within here.  Ensure there are no printers installed at
all.

Download the latest drivers for the printer from the manufacturers
website and install these first, then connect the printer to the
computer once the drivers have been installed.

the link for the drivers is as follows 

http://panasonic.co.jp/pcc/products/en/printer/model/dmp/p2023/p2023index.htm

Hopefully, the printer should not be printing gibberish any longer and
you should be able to print out without an issue.

i hope this helps ya