Thursday 20 June 2019

Equipment not working? This checklist may help.

Support folk helping you with equipment problems will probably ask these questions:

A. General

1. What is the make and model number of the equipment in question? [e.g. HP LaserJet P2055dn, Canon MG5450, etc.] You may be asked for the serial number(s) also.

2. When did it last work OK? [minutes / hours / days / weeks ago / never]

3. What significant events have occurred between then and now? [e.g. Anything moved, lightning storm, power cut, coffee spilt, computer (re)configuration]

4. Are power and data cables correctly plugged in and fully home at both ends?

5. What type of data cable is in use? [ethernet / USB-A / USB-C / parallel / serial / localtalk / firewire - see below for details]

6. After switching it on, what lights are showing on it? Please indicate color and whether flashing or steady.

7. Is the problem general for all applications (e.g. SketchUp, Office, MySQL, Adobe Reader, LibraOffice, Draw, etc.), or specific to one of them?

8. What indications or messages show? [you may be able to take a screenshot and email it, describe the indication, or just write down the message]

B. Printing problems

9. Is a print server (a type of network device) in use? [If "yes", please perform the general checks above for it also. There will be at least one data cable connecting the printer, a second data cable going to a wall data outlet or network hub, and a power cable.]

10. Are there oustanding print jobs in the printer queue? [you can determine this by double-clicking on the printer's icon in Control Panel, Printers] [None, or 0, is normal.]

11. Can you create and print a short test page?

To print a Test Page in Windows 10


a) Click on the Start button, then the Settings icon (looks like a cog, on the left of the screen).

b) Click on Devices in the settings screen displayed, then on "Printers & scanners".

c) Hover over the name and icon of the installed printer to be tested, click to see options, then choose Manage.

d) Click "Print a test page".

To print a Test Page in Windows 7


a) Open Devices and Printers [click the Start button then click Devices and Printers on the Start menu]

b) Right-click the printer you want to test, and then click Printer properties.

c) On the General tab, click "Print Test Page".

To print a test page in Windows XP [your login must have the Print permission]


a) Open Printers and Faxes [click Start, click Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Printers and Faxes]

b) Right-click the printer you want to test, and then click Properties.

c) On the General tab, click Print Test Page.

d) Click OK if the test page printed correctly. If the test page did not print correctly, click Troubleshoot to open the Print Troubleshooter for help resolving the printing problem.


(Some) types of data cable used in computer setups. Most will be as 1, 2 or 3 below.

 

 

1. Ethernet cable [connects equipment to wall data outlet or network device]

 

 

 

 


2. USB-A (or A to B) cable [connects equipment to PC or some network devices]









 

 

3. USB-C (or C to B) cable [connects equipment to computer or some network devices]







 

 

4. Parallel cable [increasingly unusual, connects printer to PC or network device]







 

 

5. Serial cable [increasingly unusual interconnects for equipment, plugs can be 9-pin or 25-pin]







 

 

6. Serial localtalk cable [connects equipment to some Apple computers]







 

 

7. Firewire cable [connects equipment to some Apple computers]