-When was it last working?
-What happened since that? / What were you doing when it stopped working?
-Is the printer on
NO - check power supply
YES - Check if there are any red lights, indicating error ON.
YES - restart the printer (turn it off - on)
NO - Does it have paper?
NO - put paper in
YES - Is it feeding paper when you press the FEED button - check for stuck paper in the printer/button may be broken - proceed with next steps/ printer may be broken
- What type is the printer - (model, connection,cable, port)
- Is the printer connected to the computer/network - plug the cable in (both sides)
If the printer is connected with a cable - find out to which computer is connected and log in with Team viewer. Proceed with next steps.
If the printer is network - log in to any computer and check in Rameses devices on which computer is this printer set up. Log in to that computer and proceed with next steps.
- Is the printer installed in Windows?
YES - try to test print
If it doesn't print - proceed with further troubleshooting depending on the connection of the printer
If the printer prints okay from Windows, proceed with POS troubleshooting.
NO - 1. Check how the printer is set in Rameses. If it is set as OPOS - you will need to look for the OPOS console. IF it is set as Legacy direct printer or Legacy Windows - there will be no Windows driver. If it is simply set as ticket printer - install the printer with the correct driver.
NOTE: Installing a printer in Windows is a chargeable request. Please confirm with the customer when did this printer stop working. Is it a new printer? It is possible that he is replacing an old printer and not telling us so we can skip the charges. Make sure you understand the situation completely because it is very unlike if a printer was working fine until yesterday, somehow to get deleted from windows.
IF THE PRINTER IS CONNECTED WITH A CABLE (ANY TYPE OF PORT) TO THE COMPUTER
-Is it showing as available in Windows? - check connection / unplug the cable and plug it back in/ try different port/try different cable/is the computer making a sound when you plug the cable/does the computer recognize that a new hardware is plugged in
-Is it printing a test page from windows? - restart printing spooler servicecheck if it is the correct driver installed/ check all steps above / re-install the printer if needed
IF NETWORK PRINTER
- Check the Ethernet/LAN port on the printer & on the router. If the lights are ON where the cable connects and they blink - there is physical connection between the printer and the router. It's not always necessary for them to blink. Some ports have just 1 steady light, but there should be light indicator for sure.
- Restart the MAIN internet router, to which computer & printer are attached.
- Open devices & printers/right click on the printer/properties/ports and check the IP address that the printer is set with.
- Try to ping that IP address from the computer. If the packets are successfully returned - there is logical connection between the computer & the printer.
- If the printer is Epson - use Epson net config to check what IP address has been obtained by the printer. Note that even if the printer doesn't have IP address assigned the Epson Net Config tool will find the printer by it's mac address. Which means that you can set IP manually or put it on Automatic, so it will ask for an IP from the DHCP.
- Ask someone to turn the printer off, hold the feed button and while holding it to switch the printer ON. The printer should reconnect to the router & print out an IP address. Use that IP address to set the printer.
- Reinstall the printer driver with the latest possible version from scratch. This would help in case the driver files, currently used, have been corrupted.
POS troubleshooting
-Is Rameses loaded on the computer where the printer is connected? - Load rameses
-Does it have a printing component? - restart Rameses/check for the 7z file for the component in Rameses/Program/reports on the server computer
-Is Andromedaprinting service running? - Start it from Rameses/Components/AndromedaPrinting/AndromedaPrinting.exe OR restart rameses and see if it will run automatically
-Is there a stuck xml file in the component? - stop Andromedaprinting service, delete the stuck xml, load Rameses, reprint a ticket, see if the xml is stuck again -> if yes re-install Andromeda printing component (stop Rameses/make a back up of the printing component in c:/Andromeda, delete the excising folder Andromeda printing in c:/Rameses/Components, run Rameses again), reprint a ticket and see if the xml file will stuck again
-Is it printing from Rameses when you click on reprint? - is the reprint option selected in settings/ is it producing an xml file/ is it printing when you place an order
-Is the printer added as a device in Rameses? - Add it in Manager/Settings/Devices/printers
-Is the printer set to print as the customer is expecting? - is the customer expecting the printer to print on the stage that it is set to (immediately,after make or after cut), is the customer trying to re-print but the reprint option is not selected in the settings
If all of the above steps are followed and the printer is still not printing, check what items are included in the order that is not printed, get the printing logs, try to move the printer to another computer (ask the store to connect it to a different computer, install it in windows, make sure it prints a test page, set it in rameses with try to print again)