You know, gremlins seem to follow me no matter where I go. At work, at home, anything to do with computers and I just get the most annoying things happening.
My computer was not set up properly in my new department. From the get-go, I had network errors, script errors, and problems logging in. I finally got the Help Desk to send someone on Friday. The guy fixed everything except one password, which is apparently unchangeable, reset my network settings, and fixed it so I could add printers myself, which had somehow gotten screwed up.
Only now I can’t print at all. Because the printer is looking for a printer tray that does not exist.
Everyone on the floor prints to this giant Xerox printer. It has six paper trays: 1,2,3,4, High Speed, and Bypass. My computer is looking for Auto, Top, or Main. It can’t find them when I print. So it puts my job in the hold queue. If I try to release it, it prints my cover page, and then tells me that Auto (or Main, or Top) is empty, and to please fill it with paper. But I can’t. Because the trays do not exist. Doesn’t matter if all the trays are full, it’s still looking for the fictional trays. I tried to fill them with fictional paper, but it didn’t work.
So I called the help desk and went through the usual help desk rigamarole. Favorite part: “Can you find the reset button on the printer and hit it two or three times?” Oh, yeah, sure. It’s only a five-figure high-quality printer that everyone on the floor (and I’m on the executive floor) shares, sure, I’ll disrupt their print jobs. I can’t even find the reset button, if the printer even has one.
She gave me a ticket number and set it to “urgent.”
I’m emailing my documents to my coworkers when I need to print.
Anyone want to take a pool on when the IT guy manages to come out and fix my printing problems? I call Friday.
Sounds like the printer’s options aren’t set right. Probably a click on “Properties” and then “advanced” will let you tell it the optional trays and whatnot that are available.
I’ve had to do this with a Xerox DocuPrint N40 and an N4525, and that’s usually the cause.
J.
You mean the dialog box that has the picture of the printer, the port number, the model number, various tabs, and tells me I have three tray options, “Top,” “Main,” and “Auto”?
I know it’s not set right. That’s why I can’t FIX it. There is no option other than the three fictional trays.
My guess … never mind. I’d look carefully at a co-worker’s whose connection does work. It’s not working until Monday, at the earliest.
If it were me, then Mr. Fixit would come just before I had to leave for Shabbat. Set up a meeting with the Big Boss and he will come just when you have to go to the meeting..
(This is why I don’t do tech support via phone)
If there isn’t an “options” thingie where you can tell the PC just what options are installed, including trays, perhaps hiding behind an “advanced” tab, then maybe it’s a wrong driver. I know tha in our particular case, we sometimes use the N40 driver for the N4525 — it’s an updated version of the same machine, and the only difference is that you won’t be able to use the enhanced features.
Alternately, I could just quietly let your IT guy duke it out…
J.
Jay, was I that snippy? Sorry. These things get me so annoyed. I mean, the guy just came in to fix my computer, and managed to screw it up in a different way. I’m not thinking highly of my company’s IT staff at the moment.
Can’t get to the Advanced tab. It’s Adminstrator-only permission. So I have to wait for IT, who just managed to delete my password.
Sigh.