[comp.periphs.printers] Printer on drugs

U33695@uicvm.uic.edu (John Walsh) (02/22/91)

I have an Epson LX-800 hooked to a Mac via a Grappler cable.  Every so often,
the printer starts printing gibberish (weird symbols, page feeds, nothing that'
s on the screen).  I've tried rehooking cables, etc., but to no avail. Usually,
 after some period of time, it returns to normal.
Has anyone else had a similar problem. Does anyone know how to fix this problem
? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

John Walsh
U33695@UICVM.BITNET

U33695@uicvm.uic.edu (John Walsh) (02/26/91)

I recently wrote that my Epson printer hooked to a Mac with a Grappler cable
was doing unspeakable things.  I switched GRapplers with my machine at work
(which connects my Mac to a Panasonic) and now both machines are working.
Put down my vote for computers.periph.possessed.
By the way, the responses I got were mostly of the form, "Whenever I get that,
I jiggle X, spin 3 times, throw salt over my shoulder, and sacrifice a floppy
disk."  This answer (and its variations) was very helpful-seriously.  It told
me: 1) Other people get the same thing; 2) there is no obvious solution; 3) try
everything until something works- and then try that first the next time.

Thank you very much,
John Walsh
U33695@UICVM.BITNET
p.s. I'm starting to think about getting a cheap laser printer. Anyone know
anything about the TI machines?