Computer Personal Computer User's Manual

Solving printer problems

The following suggestions should work for all printers. (Note: Also refer to

the manual that came with the printer.)

m Make sure that the printer driver for your printer is turned on in the

Extensions Manager control panel (in the Control Panels folder in the

Apple [K] menu). To find out the name of the printer driver—for example,

LaserWriter—refer to the documentation that came with your printer. The

printer driver should appear in the Extensions list and have a checkmark

beside it. (Click to put a checkmark beside it, and then restart your

computer.)

m Check your printer settings in the Chooser (in the Apple [K] menu),

making sure you have selected the correct printer. If you are using a printer

that is shared by other computer users (a printer on a local network), make

sure that AppleTalk (in the lower-right corner of the Chooser) is active. If

you are using your own printer (a serial printer connected to your

computer), make sure that AppleTalk is inactive.

m Turn off the computer and printer and check the printer cable connections.

m If none of these suggestions solves the problem, you may need to reinstall

the printer driver that came with your printer. (Refer to the manual that

came with your printer.)

Note: If you have an Apple printer, you need to determine which printer

driver to reinstall—the one that came with your printer or one of the

drivers included on your Macintosh Performa CD: Performa Software.

Depending on when you bought your printer, one of these printer drivers

will be more recent than the other. It is the more recent one you want.

Look at the date of the printer driver that came with your printer. (Usually,

the printer driver comes on a floppy disk with the printer.) To see the date,

insert the floppy disk, double-click its icon to open it, and choose “by

Name” from the View menu. Then look for the same printer driver name

on the Macintosh Performa CD: Performa Software. (Look for it in the Hard

Disk Files folder, in the System Folder files folder, in the Extensions folder.

Then choose “by Name” from the View menu to see the date next to it.)

The drivers must have the same name. If they do, reinstall the printer driver

with the most recent date next to it. If you use the printer driver on the

Macintosh Performa CD: Performa Software, drag the printer driver into the

Troubleshooting