Hi Jesme-ga!
If you want a direct answer to your question, the answer is no.
Incorrect data cannot cause your printer to jam. Look at it this way.
Your computer is the sender, the printer cable is the communication
line or bridge, and the printer is the receiver. In other words,
whatever data you send to the printer from your computer, the printer
just receives it and follows orders. It's that simple. Let's look at
your problem in more detail.
"Specifically, I had been printing several pages to my Epson Color
Stylus 600,
when my computer, using Windows ME, "hung-up", at which time I double
clicked
the print command twice. I was in Corel Draw Ver. 7 at the time."
Here, we can clearly say that your printer memory is not corrupted
simply because you said you had been printing already. I would like to
suggest for you to try to test your printer on a different computer
for you to see if it will function correctly. I'm sure it will. I'm
telling you this so that we can eliminate the idea of bad printer
memory and pinpoint the real problem. Besides, your printer no matter
how old, will function correctly for as long as the operating system
supports it, there is a correct driver to make it work, and it has no
hardware defects. In this case, since you said you've been printing on
it already, printer hardware problem is not the likely cause of the
problem.
"At that moment, my printer stopped printing showing a "jammed"
indication,
with all three lights in the red. I have turned the power "off" and
back
"on" several times, disconnected the power cable, all to no avail."
Based on my experience as a technician, it doesn't necessarily mean
that when the "jam" or "paper jam" indicator flashes, something is
jammed in your printer. It is simply the printer's way of telling you
that something is wrong.
In your case, the most likely cause of the error is simply a bad or
corrupted printer driver. The corruption may have just happened at the
time you were printing. It may also not be a case of corrupted driver,
but an issue of incompatible driver since Epson Stylus 600 is an old
model. I’ve visited the Epson website and found out that it doesn’t
have a printer driver for Windows ME, 2000, or XP yet. They are still
in the process of producing one. The only advice it has on using your
600 printer on ME is “to ensure correct operation of older printer
drivers (i.e. Stylus Color 400/600/800) with Windows Me be sure to set
'Use Print Manager for this port' in the Epson Spool Manager to ON.”
This is specified on their web advice page:
http://support.epson.com/webadvice/wa0300.html.
So if this is the case, you may try to revert on using Windows 98
second edition for a while until they come up with a reliable driver
for you OS to ensure hassle-free printing. I know that you have
already been printing using ME as your platform but you see, although
WinME has backward compatibility for Win98, it is still a different
platform. Otherwise, Epson would not have specified that they’ll be
releasing a driver specifically for WinMe.
In my experience, Win98SE is a more stable platform than WinME.
Windows 2000 and XP are also better OS than ME. If you think of
discarding your old printer, my advice is don’t. Why? It’s still
usable and it still suits your needs. This would save you a lot than
buying a new printer.
So just in case you would want to get a driver for Win98 you can
visit:
http://support.epson.com/hardware/printer/inkjet/sc600_/index.html
or cut and paste
http://support.epson.com/cgi/download.pl?download=ftp://ftp.epson.com/drivers/SC622EES.EXE&pn=EPSON
Stylus COLOR 600&pc=Inkjet Printers&ft=driver
Follow the necessary instructions to download the Windows 3.1x/95/98
driver for your printer.
If you don’t want to change to Win98 and continue using ME, you can
just try to uninstall and reinstall the driver that you are using.
WinME supports it but not totally so you can expect this problem to
recur over and over again.
Additional link:
This one is a pdf file that you can download pertaining to the
installation of your Epson printer driver on WinME
http://files.support.epson.com/pdf/sc777_/windowsme_install.pdf
Search Strategy:
"stylus 600" inside Epson North America downloads page search box
http://support.epson.com/filelibrary.html
Well I surely hope this works and I hope my advice will help you a lot
and save you money in the long run. Feel ree to ask Google Answers
next time, we will be very glad to respond to your query. Thank you
very much.
Feilong-ga |
Request for Answer Clarification by
jesme-ga
on
06 Nov 2002 19:30 PST
Dear Feilong,
Sincere thanks for the obvious research you've done with respect to my
question. However, the printer at this time
is connected ONLY to the power line, and will not clear itself when I
turn it on. The printer driver or WinME may have
caused the problem, but the printer should have cleared itself since
it is now disconnected from the computer.
When I turn the power on, only the green indicator lights up, not
flashing, but steady, as normal. It then starts the
print cycle until it reaches the point at which it should feed paper.
At that time, it moves the cartridges to the
right (start position) and the three red indicators start flashing,
along witha flashing green indicator. All this while
connected only to the power line.
I have replaced the ink cartridges to eliminate them as a source of
the problem, and it has had no effect.
My reason for requesting assistance is that, as you stated, I too
belive that the printer is still mechanically OK.
But if the printer driver or Windows ME caused the "jam", how do I
clear the printer's internal software?
Respectfully,
Joe Sidoti
|
Clarification of Answer by
feilong-ga
on
06 Nov 2002 21:37 PST
Hi Joe! Thank you very much for your sincere gratitude but there’s no
need -- it’s our job and we’re very glad to be of service to you.
Actually I also use an Epson printer (Epson Photo Stylus 810
Professional) and have used various Epson printers including your 600
model. I’m very much familiar with these printers and so I answered
your question.
Let’s go back to your current situation. When I read your problem, the
details you provided seemed to be complete and provided me with enough
data to make an analysis and provide you with answers. I was a bit
surprised now that you’re telling me that the printer remains at its
current state with only the power cable attached. I have some
clarifications in mind but I won’t ask it anymore. I will just give
you several choices regarding my intended queries that I will mark as
Q and the answers as A. This way it would be more logical to you and
you will have a more personalized “troubleshooting guide” at the same
time.
Q: First you said that the “jam” indicator flashed after your WinMe
hung-up. You did not say if the paper actually jammed your printer.
Did this occur?
A: If so, make sure that the inside of your printer is free of
anything that will obstruct its normal operation. In other words, make
sure it’s clean of any foreign materials.
A: If it didn’t occur, here’s what you should try to do making sure
your printer is not yet attached to the printer or “power cable only”
as you put it:
a) Try to clear the printer memory of any data by pressing the power
button for 10 seconds.
b) If the jam indicator is still on, press the load/eject button
(upper button) so that the roller and loader will activate. This way,
whatever paper or other material trapped between the loader and roller
will be “ejected” out of the printer. This actually is what, I
suspect, causes your problem.
c) You don’t need to press the cleaning button because your problem is
not related to the ink output.
If the problem remains, do these:
d) First, uninstall your printer driver from WinME. Restart and
re-install the printer driver. This way we can make sure that
corrupted printer driver will not be a problem.
e) Re-connect the printer to your computer using the printer cable.
Then proceed doing steps A nd B.
I would expect the problem to be solved by then but if it still
remains, first check and make sure you did the recommended steps
correctly. If it still remains, it is now time to bring your printer
to an authorized or reliable service man or center. It’s your choice
because the printer’s warranty is obviously expired anyway.
You may notice that I never told you to anything about clearing the
printer’s internal software (…how do I clear the printer's internal
software?). Why? First of all you, as an end-user, don’t have to do
anything about it. Take note that when you purchased your printer you
did not do anything to program it. The end-user only needs to install
the printer driver to access the service of the printer. Besides,
whatever built-in program there is in your printer is not accessible
by ordinary means. The program resides in a ROM (read-only memory)
chip. It was put in there in the factory stage of the printer’s life.
I would like to reiterate that you DON’T need to tamper it. Chances
are, you will only make matters worse which will cost you a lot and
this wouldn’t be practical. I’m telling you this because I care and so
that you can’t say I did not warn you. I understand that you got the
idea from the early comment posted under your query.
I guess that’s just about it. If you want to know more details on
troubleshooting your printer you can download the pdf file from Epson
located at http://files.support.epson.com/pdf/sc600_/sc600_u1.pdf.
It’s on chapter 6 in the file.
I sincerely hope I helped you a lot and again help you save money from
unnecessary expenses. Thanks again for using Google Answers and please
don’t hesitate to ask more questions and use our services next time.
Sincerely yours,
Chard
|
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