Solved Bidirectional printing failure

B

bcdozier

Member
I have a Dell laptop with Vista Home Premium. I want to use it with my Pixma printer as an event printer at photo events. Printer wasn't being seen by Vista with SP2 so I made a partition and installed Vista without SP2 in the new partition. Printer works with Lightroom just fine.
The printer functions fully on my win 7 desktop.
Seems obvious that there is something in SP2 that is quirky with this printer. (My other printers work OK from the main partition on the laptop.)

I downloaded a software package that could capture the printer data stream. Compared the data streams. From my years ago background in this stuff it appears that the printer is not responding to commands from the laptop. Also, I can put a check in the 'Enable Bidirectional Communication' option on the Ports tab but when I exit 'Properties' the check is removed.
Security settings are proper.

Any ideas? I'm out.
 

My Computer

System One

hello, Welcome to the forum.

Have you connected your printer wirelessly? Can you give more info about your printer and Machine?

this link may help you for normal printing problems. Check it.

Normal Printer Problems

Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP dv2519tu pavillion Laptop
    CPU
    1.50 GHz
    Motherboard
    Winstron
    Memory
    2.5 gig RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    intel onboard
    Sound Card
    Conexant HD Smart Audio HD2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Brightview Display
    Screen Resolution
    1280X800
    Hard Drives
    SATA - 160 + 500 GB
    PSU
    HP
    Case
    HP Laptop
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    HP Laptop
    Mouse
    HP
    Internet Speed
    4 MB/SEC-Download, 2 MB/SEC-Upload
Are you saying that this printer works correctly with Vista (no service pack), but not with Vista SP2? Have you checked for an updated driver from the manufacturer?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
    CPU
    Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
    Memory
    4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
    Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
    Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
    Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
    WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
    PSU
    XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
    Case
    Gigabyte IF233
    Cooling
    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
    Internet Speed
    NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
    Other Info
    Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
    Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
    WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25
    Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
It's a Canon iP4820. It is not a wireless printer.
I tried installing just the drivers and not the additional software. They have one driver for everything from XP to WIN 7 32/64. Downloaded drivers, etc. from the Canon site and tried them instead of the install CD. The printer works correctly from the partition WITHOUT Vista SP2. In the Vista SP2 partition all printers - HP PSC 1410 and Epson PRO 3800 - function but not the Canon. I'm certainly not an expert but having captured a working and non-working data stream and noting that the printer is not responding to commands from Vista SP2 and the fact that the 'Bidirectional' option on the 'Ports' tab will not remain selected makes me think it is a registry setting. I tried comparing registry settings from the working partition side to the not-working side but that was chasing the wind.
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP-Pavilion m9280.uk-a
    CPU
    2.30 gigahertz AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-Core
    Motherboard
    ASUSTek Computer INC. NARRA3 3.02
    Memory
    3582 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory (4 Gig)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS NVIDIA Geforce GTS450
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition 7.1 Audio (HP drivers)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2408 24.0" (Dual monitor)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1200, 1920 * 1200
    Hard Drives
    3*500 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
    Plus 2x USB (160Gig each) external HDD
    BluRay & DVD Weiters
    HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L SCSI CdRom (Bluray RW) Device
    AlViDrv BDDVDROM SCSI CdRom (Blueray) Device
    TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653N SCSI CdRom
    Internet Speed
    40 Meg

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP-Pavilion m9280.uk-a
    CPU
    2.30 gigahertz AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-Core
    Motherboard
    ASUSTek Computer INC. NARRA3 3.02
    Memory
    3582 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory (4 Gig)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS NVIDIA Geforce GTS450
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition 7.1 Audio (HP drivers)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2408 24.0" (Dual monitor)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1200, 1920 * 1200
    Hard Drives
    3*500 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
    Plus 2x USB (160Gig each) external HDD
    BluRay & DVD Weiters
    HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L SCSI CdRom (Bluray RW) Device
    AlViDrv BDDVDROM SCSI CdRom (Blueray) Device
    TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653N SCSI CdRom
    Internet Speed
    40 Meg
I didn't have Sharing turned on. For grins I un-installed re-installed the printer driver for the umteenth time. Windows is happy. And the printer icon notes when the printer is online/offline. So there is some communication - obviously one-sided. I am convinced it has something to do with the fact that I cannot enable bidirectional printing via the 'Ports' tab. When I do attempt to print the Canon error message says to enable bidirectional printing. I think that enabling/disabling bidi printing sets/clears a setting in the registry. But where? How does one locate that info? Keeps the MS tech support lines busy I would imagine.
 

My Computer

System One

Found the problem. Running with my instinct I changed my Google search parameters. A forum post led me directly to the registry area where critical data for the printer is stored.
In HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\Canon iP4800 Series\PrinterDriverData\ there are 68 or 69 entries one of which is 'CnmLM_BidiSupport.' It is set to a '1' in the working setup. However, on the laptop there are only 9 entries in the same key and there is not a 'CnmLM_BidiSupport.' I'm thinking of importing the good key but that doesn't really resolve the problem. What would prevent the install from setting the correct registry entries?
 

My Computer

System One

Located the problem.
Uninstalled the driver again, plugged in the printer with power on and let Windows find the printer and driver and install. Had checked the registry after the uninstall and no trace of the Canon. After the install by letting Windows do it the registry was fully populated.
Still wouldn't print but now I had different symptoms and the 'Bidirectional' print option was automatically selected.
With different symptoms I got different answers at the Canon support site and the fix was to remove the "AMD USB Audio Driver Filter" The Dell 1536 (my laptop) was specifically listed. Hell, that shudda' been the first thing I thought of! Its common knowledge the USB audio filter affects printing. Oh, well - it's printing. Thanks for your assistance.
 

My Computer

System One

Nice to hear that your printer started printing. Happy printing. Going to mark this thread as solved.

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP dv2519tu pavillion Laptop
    CPU
    1.50 GHz
    Motherboard
    Winstron
    Memory
    2.5 gig RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    intel onboard
    Sound Card
    Conexant HD Smart Audio HD2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Brightview Display
    Screen Resolution
    1280X800
    Hard Drives
    SATA - 160 + 500 GB
    PSU
    HP
    Case
    HP Laptop
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    HP Laptop
    Mouse
    HP
    Internet Speed
    4 MB/SEC-Download, 2 MB/SEC-Upload
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