[search]
[assistance]
[search]

Product Information
Technical Support
Drivers & Software
Set-Up & Maintain
Solve a Problem
Use Your Product
Features/Specs
Accessories & Supplies
Community Forum
Manuals
Where to Buy

Glossary
Notify
HP DeskJet 710C Printer
HP DeskJet 710C Printer
 

search1

HP DeskJet Printers - Disabling Bidirectional Communication

Introduction

    Printing problems may occur, and you may receive error messages when the HP Printing System for Windows is installed on a computer that does not have a bidirectional port or a bidirectional printer cable. Bidirectional communication problems can also be encountered when other devices are connected to the parallel port (for example: scanners, switchboxes, zip drives, and external print servers.) Printing problems specific to bidirectional communication (two-way communication) can be fixed by upgrading your computer's hardware so that it does have a bidirectional port or a bidirectional printer cable, or by turning off the bidirectional function in your printer driver software. If you installed your printer in Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0 and you did not use the floppy disks or CD-ROM that came with your printer, you will not have bidirectional communication and there is no need to turn it off.

    If you turn off the bidirectional communication in your printer driver, the print quality will not be affected. However, some of the advanced features of the Status Monitor or HP Toolbox will be disabled:

  • You will no longer receive reminders to align the print cartridges after a new print cartridge is installed.
  • You will no longer receive error messages associated with the print cartridges.
  • You will no longer receive error messages associated with the banner lever on HP DeskJet 680C, 690C, 710C, 720C, 810C, 830C, 880C, or 895C printers.

    This document provides information about how to turn off the printer driver's bidirectional communication in Microsoft (R) Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. Since the document contains instructions, you may want to print it for easy reference.

Finding the driver version

    Before you can turn off bidirectional communication, you need to determine what version of the driver you have installed on your computer. There are several ways to determine what version of the printer driver you are using. Use one of the methods below to determine what driver version you are using.

      Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0

NOTE: If you installed your printer in Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0 and you did not use the floppy disks or CD-ROM that came with your printer, you will not have a Toolbox or Program Group and bidirectional communication has not been enabled.

        Method 1

    1. Click Start, Settings, and then Printers.
    2. Right-click the icon for your printer and choose Properties.
    3. Click the Setup tab. The driver version will be displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the Setup screen. This printer driver is version 9.03 for the HP DeskJet 670 and 690C Series printers. See Figure 3 for an example of what this screen might look like.

        Figure 3: Windows 95 and 98 Printer Driver Setup Screen

        Method 2

    1. Click Start, then Programs.
    2. Look for the line that begins with HP DeskJet and click it. The version number of the driver is listed next to the printer (for example, HP DeskJet 895C Series v11.1). This printer driver is version 11.1 for the HP DeskJet 895C Series printer.

      Windows 3.1x only

        Method 1

    1. In Program Manager, open the Main program group.
    2. Double-click the Control Panel icon.
    3. Double-click the Printers icon.
    4. Highlight the name for your printer (for example: HP DeskJet 690C Series Printer on LPT1).
    5. Click Setup. This will take you to the Setup screen for your printer. The driver version will be displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the Setup screen. This printer driver is version 9.02 for the HP DeskJet 660, 680, and 690C Series printers. See Figure 1 for an example of what this screen might look like.

        Figure 1: Windows 3.1x Printer Driver Setup Screen

        Method 2

      In the Program Manager, highlight the program group for your HP DeskJet printer. The title of the program group will contain the version of your HP DeskJet printer driver. For example, if you have an HP DeskJet 895C Series printer installed on your PC, the program group will read "HP DeskJet 895C Series v 11.1" See Figure 2 for an example of what this screen might look like:

      Figure 2: HP DeskJet Program Group

    After you have determined which driver version you are using, look in the tables below to find your printer and the correct filename for that version. (For example, if you are using version 9.03 for the HP DeskJet 690C Series printers, the correct filename will be HPFCFG08.EXE.)

Steps to turn off bidirectional communication

NOTE: The LPT1.DOS port selection does not support bidirectional communication. This port setting can be used to eliminate bidirectional communication in Microsoft Windows 3.1x. Bidirectional communication can also be disabled in the Configuration File by following the instructions below.

  1. starting place is slightly different depending upon the operating system.

      For Windows 3.1: In Program Manager, choose File and click Run.

      For Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0: Choose Start and then click Run.

  1. On the Command line or Open line, type the filename for your printer.
  2. Click Continue in the message window.
  3. Remove the X next to the following lines:
    • Print Cartridge Query
    • Bidirectional Communication
    • Launch Toolbox When Printing (may not be present in earlier versions of the driver)
  4. Click OK.
  5. Click Restart Windows.

NOTE: The bidirectional communication will be disabled after Windows is restarted. To reinstate bidirectional communication, follow the steps above, except you will be replacing the X.

      HP DeskJet 400 series printers

      Printer Model

      Driver Version

      Operating System

      Filename

      DJ400/400L/420

      1.0.2

      Win 3.1/95

      DE400CFG.EXE

      DJ400/400L/420

      6.0

      Win 3.1

      HPWCNFIG.EXE

      DJ400/400L/420

      7.0

      Win 3.1/95

      HPWCNFIG.EXE

      DJ400/400L/420

      8.0

      Win 3.1/95

      HPW1CFG.EXE

      HP DeskJet 600 series printers

      Printer Model

      Driver Version

      Operating System

      Filename

      DJ610/612C

      11.2

      Win 3.1x/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG20.EXE*

      DJ600/660C

      6.1-6xx

      Win 3.1

      HPVCNFIG.EXE

      DJ660Cse

      6.3-660Cse

      Win 3.1

      HPFCFG01.EXE

      DJ600/660C

      7.0-6xx

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG02.EXE

      DJ660Cse

      7.0-660Cse

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG03.EXE

      DJ660C/660Cse

      8.0-660C/Cse

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG04.EXE

      DJ660C/660Cse

      9.01-660C/Cse

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG05.EXE

      DJ660C/660Cse

      9.02-66x/68x/69x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG07.EXE

      DJ660C/660Cse

      11.0-660C/Cse

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG19.EXE

      DJ670C/672C

      9.03-670C

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG08.EXE

      DJ670C/672C

      11.0-670C

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG18.EXE

      DJ680C/682C

      8.0-68x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG04.EXE

      DJ680C/682C

      9.01-68x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG05.EXE

      DJ680C/682C

      9.02-66x/68x/69x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG07.EXE

      DJ680C/682C

      11.0-68x

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG17.EXE

      DJ690C/693C

      9.0/9.01-69x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG05.EXE

      DJ690C/692C/693C/694C

      9.02-66x/68x/69x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG07.EXE

      DJ690C/692C/693C/694C

      9.03-67x/69x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG08.EXE

      DJ690C/692C/693C/694C/695C/697C

      11.0-69x

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG16.EXE

  • By default, bidirectional communication is not activated during installation of the printer driver.

      HP DeskJet 700 series printers

      Printer Model

      Driver Version

      Operating System

      Filename

      DJ710C/712C

      10.3-71x

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG13.EXE

      DJ720C/722C

      10.0/10.1-72x

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG06.EXE

      DJ720C/722C

      10.3-72x

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG14.EXE

      HP DeskJet 800 series printers

      Printer Model

      Driver Version

      Operating System

      Filename

      DJ810/812/815C

      11.1-81x

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG11.EXE

      DJ820C

      8.0/8.2-820C

      Win 3.1/95

      HPFCFG04.EXE

      DJ820C

      8.5-820C

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG09.EXE

      DJ830/832C

      11.1-83x

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG23.EXE

      DJ850C

      6.0/6.1-6xx

      Win 3.1

      HPVCNFIG.EXE

      DJ850C/855C

      7.0/7.01-85x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPRCFG01.EXE

      DJ850C/855C

      8.0-85x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPRCFG02.EXE

      DJ850C/855C

      9.0/9.2-85x

      Win 3.1/95/98

      HPRCFG03.EXE

      DJ850C/855C

      11.1-85x

      Win NT 4.0

      HPRCFG08.EXE

      DJ870C

      9.0/9.2-870x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPRCFG03.EXE

      DJ870C

      11.1-870x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPRCFG08.EXE

      DJ870C

      11.12-870x

      Win 98

      HPRCFG08.EXE

      DJ870C

      11.0-870x

      NT 4.0

      HPRCFG06.EXE

      DJ870C

      12.1-870x

      NT 4.0

      HPRCFG11.EXE

      DJ880/882C

      11.-88x

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG12.EXE

      DJ890C

      11.0-890x

      Win 3.1/95/NT 4.0

      HPRCFG06.EXE

      DJ890C

      11.1-890x

      Win 3.1/95

      HPRCFG08.EXE

      DJ890C

      11.12-890x

      Win 98

      HPRCFG08.EXE

      DJ890C

      12.0-890x

      NT 4.0

      HPRCFG10.EXE

      DJ895C

      11.1-895x

      Win 3.1/95/98/NT 4.0

      HPFCFG15.EXE

Microsoft (R) is a U.S. registered trademark of
Microsoft Corp.

Windows (R) and MS Windows (R) are U.S.
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

Windows NT (R) is a U.S. registered
trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Copyright (C) Hewlett-Packard Co. 1998
This information is subject to change without notice and
is provided "as is" with no warranty.
Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for any direct,
indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages
in connection with the use of this material.





HP Bottom Banner
Terms of Use Privacy Statement Yes No Just Browsing Feedback