Trouble Shooting the Dymo Printer

Transcription

1 Trouble Shooting the Dymo Printer 1. Are the power lights on the front of the printer on? If so, please press the buttons. Does the paper and/or labels come out properly? If not, then you may have a paper jam inside the printer, or a print job may be stuck in Windows Print Manager. Fixing A Paper Jam Please go to to see the video on how to fix a paper jam in your Dymo printer. Canceling a print job in Windows Please see Canceling a Print Job information below. 2. Dymo Power Reset -- Unplug the Dymo's AC Power cord from BOTH the wall and from the printer. Wait 30 seconds and then re-connect power. 3. Trace the Dymo power cord from the Dymo printer back to the AC outlet in the wall. About in the middle, you should find the Dymo Power Block. Make sure the power cords are all firmly connected. Also, examine the Power Block. It MUST be a Dymo Power Block. The Dymo printers will not work if you are using a Power Block from a different manufacturer. NOTE: Dymo has issued a recall on certain Power blocks manufactured between August 2007 and June For further information to see if your power block is in the recall, go to and search for Recall. 4. Check that the USB cable is firmly connected on the printer side and on the computer side. 5. Check how the rolls of paper are inserted into the Dymo. Both the continuous paper and/or labels MUST be coming from UNDER the roll and out the paper feed slot and NOT over the top of the roll and out the paper feed slot. 6. Click the Windows START button Go to Settings Printers & Faxes Make sure that the Dymo printers are showing "Ready" (Online & Active and not Off-Line). Do you see multiple listings for the Dymo Labelwrites, e.g. Dymo Labelwriter 450 (or 400) and Dymo Labelwriter 450 copy, then please see NOTE below #7. 7. If you disconnected the Dymo USB cable from the computer and then reconnected the Dymo back to the computer, but plugged the USB cable into a different USB port, then a "copy" of your Dymo Printer may have been created. This "copy" may now be your installed and is now the "ACTIVE" printer. The original Dymo is no longer showing as Ready. If this is the case, then this "copy" is the printer that must be selected and identified to School Check IN as the printer to use. The Dymo printer when installed marries the USB port. Start School Check IN. Go to Admin Settings Printers Click the F10 button to clear all printer selections. Click the SAVE button. Go to Settings Printers. Reselect the active Dymo printers. Reselect the report printers. Click the SAVE button. Go back to Settings Printers Click the Test Print w w w. S c h o o l C h e c k I N. c o m Page 1 9/28/12

2 8. The Dymo 330 model printer supported both the USB and RS232 cables. The RS232 cable is no longer supported. If an RS232 cable is in use, please uninstall the Dymo 330 and re-install using a USB cable. The Dymo 330 is an old printer (10+ years) and may need to be replaced as it may no longer be supported. 9. Paper or labels is spewing out from the printer with lines printed across the paper or labels. The front panel was removed to perhaps clear a paper jam and was not properly re-attached. The buttons are being pressed down by the front panel and when power is applied, this puts the Dymo into a test mode and the labels or passes print with the lines. These will continue to print until either power is disconnected, or fixed per the instructions below. Problem --The DYMO printer prints continuous black lines even when not connected to the computer. The front panel on the Dymo was removed - maybe to fix a paper jam - and the front panel was not re-attached properly. The reason the labels are printing with the lines is that the Dymo is in a "test" mode. You enter the test mode by pressing & holding the buttons down while connecting the power. Improperly attaching the front panel will cause the printer to enter the test mode because the front panel has the buttons pressed down. Disconnect the USB cable. Disconnect the power cord. Open the printer lid and carefully remove front panel. Don't break off the tabs that hold the front panel in place. Gently lift up the tabs that secure the front panel and remove the front panel. The front panel is secured by the tabs at the top and tabs underneath the printer. Clear any paper jam. Reattach the front panel. Try attaching it so it slides almost straight onto the front. All seams & tabs need to be fitted in & flush no gaps. To verify that the front panel is properly seated, the front panel should fit snug (no gaps) onto the printer. And press the buttons on the front panel, there should be some play in the buttons (should move down when pressed). If the buttons cannot be pressed, then remove the front panel and re-attach again. Re-connect the USB cable Re-connect the power cord. 10. Dymo is printing text very light on Badges or Passes. --- The Dymo printers are thermal (heat) printers. There is no toner or ink to add or replace. The ink or toner is in the paper and is heated when it passes through the printer. Possible solutions are: Replace the roll of labels or paper. Thermal paper has a shelf life of ~ 14 months and should be stored in closed drawer or cabinet with minimal exposure to light. Constant light, or direct sunlight may have impacted the roll. Clean the printer. Over time, dust and dirt can build up inside the printer and on the platen (black roller) inside the printer. When purchased, inside each printer box there was a sealed packet containing cleaning pads. Run these cleaning pads through the printer per the instructions on the packet. Additional cleaning packets may be purchased from Printer may simply need to be replaced. The Dymo Labelwriter printers are very good printers, but these are low end (sub $250) printers and will eventually need to be replaced. Low end printers may have a useful life span of 3 to 5 years and maybe longer. A Dymo 330 printer is now 7 years old and a Dymo 400 printer is 4 years old. w w w. S c h o o l C h e c k I N. c o m Page 2 9/28/12

3 11. The Dymo printer is printing out two labels. The first label has the correct visitor or volunteer information on it, but the second label is blank. The most likely cause is the school is using labels that are not the correct size. School Check IN uses a larger custom sized label that is available exclusively through us. Please order School Check IN labels (ID Badges). Tips from Dymo 1. Run the cleaning card that comes with dymo printers thru the label feed and clean off the sensor. Or dab a small amount of rubbing alcohol on a business card and feed it thru the printer a few times to clean the sensor. 2. Make sure to check for paper jams by removing face plate and looking under the play button for any jams. 3. Make sure spools are to the left and they are secured tightly. If spools are not inserted tightly labels will move around and cause more than one label to print out. 4. If labels are being printed crocked that means that the labels are miss-aligned. Please contact DYMO support Dymo 400 is not working in School Check IN Version 6.20b19 or newer We just updated School Check IN and our Dymo 400 no longer works. Dymo changed the sdk and this affects the older Dymo 400 models. Solution = Re-install Dymo Version 8 when using a Dymo 400 printer. 1. In Control Panel Add-Remove Programs uninstall ALL Dymo applications. 2. Open MyComputer and check in C:\Program Files. DELETE all Dymo and Dymo Label folders. 3. Unplug the Dymo USB cable from the computer. 4. Go to Settings Printers & Faxes Right click on the Dymo and select Delete. Delete all Dymo printers 5. Reboot the computer. 6. Unplug the Dymo's AC Power cord from the wall and the printer. Wait 30 seconds and then re-connect power. 7. Re-install the Dymo Version 8 Software. You can find it here Reconnect the USB cable when prompted Start School Check IN. 11. Go to Admin Settings Printers 12. Click the F10 button to clear all printer selections. 13. Click the SAVE button. 14. Go to Settings Printers. 15. Reselect your Dymo & Report printers. 16. Click the SAVE button. 17. Go back to Settings Printers 18. Click the Test Print w w w. S c h o o l C h e c k I N. c o m Page 3 9/28/12

4 Printing Badges or Passes with School Check IN Clicking the DONE button in School Check IN is how an ID Badge, or a Pass is printed. Clicking the DONE button causes School Check IN to send the print job to Windows. Windows then prints the job using Windows Print Manager which manages the Windows print spooler services. School Check IN does not control Windows printing, Windows controls this function. If Windows cannot see the printer and/or print a Windows test page, then School Check IN will also fail to print. For a more detailed explanation, please visit Windows Answers.net There are various approaches that depend on the exact problem you are having and which version of Windows you are using. Here are some possible solutions. Canceling a print job in Windows 1. Click the Windows START button. 2. Go to Settings Printers & Faxes. 3. Right click on the printer. 4. Select "Cancel All Documents". (This action will clear all print jobs in the windows print manager.). 5. Do this for each printer that is installed. 6. Start School Check In and try printing an ID Badge or Pass again. If you do not see the option "Cancel All Documents", then the print manager doesn't have a print job stuck in queue. Clearing a print job in Windows Stop the print spooler service Delete the rogue files Restart the print spooler service Stop the print spooler service 1. Go to Start and right-click My Computer and choose Manage. 2. In the left pane of the Computer Management console, expand Services and Applications and select Services. 3. In the main pane, select Print Spooler. 4. Click Stop the service. Delete the rogue files 1. In Windows Explorer, browse to C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS. 2. Delete any files found here. Restart the print spooler service 1. Return to the Computer Management console. 2. Expand Services and Applications and select Services. 3. In the main pane, select Print Spooler. 4. Click Start the service. w w w. S c h o o l C h e c k I N. c o m Page 4 9/28/12

5 Clear DELETED print jobs from the print queue 1. Go to Control Panel. 2. Select System and Maintenance. 3. Select Administrative Tools. 4. Double-click on Services. 5. In the list of services, scroll down until you find one called "Print Spooler". 6. Right-click on "Print Spooler" and select "Restart". 7. The "deleted" jobs will disappear and any queued jobs in your print queue will print. Windows Print Spooler Service The spooler/print spooler/spool or spoolsv.exe is a legitimate Windows service that runs in the background of your computer. It has no visible window but is constantly running in the background to monitor for printing requests that you may initiate by clicking the Print button on the printer or within an application interface. A service is something that runs in the background of the computer and monitors for specific tasks or events that the service is responsible for. In the instance of the print spooler service, the printer spooler waits until a print job is requested and then it becomes active. The print spooler is responsible for transferring the data in the print job to a temporary storage area that is accessible by the printer. If the print spooler stops working, the data that completes a requested print job is not transferred to the necessary location and is not noticed by the printer. Without the print spooler, the capability to print anything is lost. Print Spooler Errors Users that initiate large volumes of print jobs into the print queue or users that simply print a lot may experience errors with the spool service that would result in error messages such as these... Spooler subsystem app has encountered a problem and needs to close. Operation could not be completed. If you receive an error message similar to the ones listed, there is likely an error with the print spooler service, spoolsv.exe. This service can produce errors or become corrupt during normal use or because of a conflict with a third party print management service belonging to a peripheral printing device. All printers come with their own driver that enables the functionality of the printer and many come with their own print spool service that often conflicts with the generic spool service provided by Windows. This conflict can cause the print queue to become jammed or unresponsive, thus resulting in printer not working or requiring an extraordinary amount of time to print a single job. You may experience errors like the ones listed above when... First logging into Windows. Trying to start the Print Spooler service. Trying to stop the Print Spooler service. Attempting to access Printer and Faxes. Attempting to Add a printer. Trying to print a document or photo. w w w. S c h o o l C h e c k I N. c o m Page 5 9/28/12

6 Dymo Printer Questions If you have checked all of the above and all appears okay, then please send us answers to the questions listed below. We will need the answers to these questions to investigate further as to what might be the problem with your Dymo printer. Dymo Printer 1. What model printer is your Dymo? (330, 400 or 450)? 2. Is it a single or a TWIN? 3. If it's a single, how many Dymo printers are you trying to use? 4. Are you trying to install different Dymo models (i.e. 330 and a 400, or a 330 and a 450, or a 400 and a 450)? 5. If the answer to #4 is yes, then which models are you trying to install? Windows Control Panel Add-Remove Programs 6. Do you see the Dymo Label Software listed as installed? 7. How many times is it listed? 8. What Dymo versions do you see installed? School Check IN -- go to Admin & click the About button. 9. What version of School Check IN are you using? Windows 10. What version of Windows is being used (XP, Vista, or Windows 7)? Open My Computer and go to C:\Program Files\SchoolCheckIN\ folder. 11. Do you see either of these files installed in the School Check IN folder? DLS7_SDKCompatibilityLib.dll DymoUniversalAddin.dll Don't delete any file just tell us if either of these files is present in the SchoolCheckIN folder. Labels 12. Measure the length of the label. The size must be 4 1/4" x 2 5/15". If the label is shorter than 4 1/4", then please contact us to order the correct labels. Printer 13. Are the Dymo printer power lights on? 14. Press the button(s) on the front of the Dymo Printer. Does paper and/or labels come out properly? 15. Examine the power cord that runs from the printer to the "POWER BLOCK" and then to the AC outlet. Look at the POWER BLOCK. Is it a Dymo Power Block? 16. How many labels come out when you press the button? 17. How long is the strip of continuous paper that comes out when you press the button? 18. Is the paper (or Labels) feeding from UNDER the roll or OVER the roll and out? w w w. S c h o o l C h e c k I N. c o m Page 6 9/28/12