Standby mode disables printer

Helpline Q&A Directory

I have an Epson Stylus Color 640 printer attached via LPT2 to my PC. I normally boot up the computer in the morning and then use standby mode throughout the day when I am not using it. I only fully shut down in the evening. However, I find that once the PC has been on standby, any attempts to use the printer result in an error message saying that it is out of paper even though it isn't. The only way I have found of getting the printer working properly again is to reboot the PC, which somewhat defeats the object of using standby mode in the first place.

Have you any ideas as to how I can get round this problem? I have recently changed the motherboard to an Abit VT6X4 and I am sure that I didn't have the problem before.

You say your printer is connected to LPT2, implying you have fitted a second parallel port card that was not part of the motherboard. Does the problem occur if you connect the printer to LPT1?

Power management is a difficult area for manufacturers to get right and it is full of bugs. There are quite a few possibilities: your second printer port may not be properly power-management compatible, your new motherboard's Bios might be at fault, or the problem could be in the printer drivers.

There are only three things you can try: reconfigure your system so the printer uses the motherboard's own printer port, install the latest Epson printer drivers and see if there is a Bios upgrade for your motherboard. If these do not work, the only solution is to leave the computer on instead of putting it into standby mode.