# Cant print from Wordperfect in DOS



## PROJECT (Sep 25, 2003)

I am trying to print a document from wordperfect in DOS and I am getting the error "printer not accepting characters". Does anyone know how to fix this?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Have you tried turning the printer off, then back on, and reboot computer?


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## PROJECT (Sep 25, 2003)

yes i did, tried a different printer too


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Is it a dot matrix printer?


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## PROJECT (Sep 25, 2003)

yes, an Okidata


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Are you in pure dos or are you trying to print via a dos window?

Has this setup worked prior?


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## PROJECT (Sep 25, 2003)

pure dos, DOS 6. It did work prior and it just stopped working when we switched printers. Our Oki is out for service and our replacement Oki, which is a different model, is when it stopped working. I have tried on 2 different printers and nothing


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Are the correct printer drivers installed?


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## PROJECT (Sep 25, 2003)

sort of fixed the problem. for some reason in the BIOS it switched the single on-board parallel port to LPT2?  I dont know why, so now every time i print something i have to change it to look at lpt2? i tried changing it in the BIOS but every IRQ option only gives LPT2


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Per chance is there a line in the config.sys or autoexec.bat files that is pointing the printer to LPT2?


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## PROJECT (Sep 25, 2003)

no there isnt i checked that, is there a line i can add that will map the printer to lpt1, but remember the BIOS is where the parallel port is det to lpt2, and it does not give me the option of lpt1


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

It's been a while since I have played with a dot matrix printer in dos, but when you install the printer drivers, isn't there an option there to tell it what LPT port to print from?


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## PC_Wiz (Nov 19, 2003)

You can use DEBUG to determine what addresses are being used by the first two LPT ports.

At the command prompt type:

Debug <enter>
- D 40:8 L4 <enter>

Here are some articles :

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;75180
http://www.firmware.com/support/bios/swaplpt.htm


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## m-dash (Nov 12, 2003)

Project,

I don't know if this will help in your situation, but in case you didn't know, in WP for DOS you can set the LPT port for your printer by going to the Print menu (Shift+F7) > Select (select your desired printer) > Edit > Port (to specify which parallel port setting you want WP to use.)

m-dash


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## PROJECT (Sep 25, 2003)

Thanks, I know I already did that. The problem is everytime i restart the computer WP resets it so that it looks at LPT1. So before i print i always have to manually switch it. By the way what keystrokes must you push to save your changes and exit without cancelling. I know F1 is to cancel and exit, is F7 to save changes and exit when you are in setup for printers?


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## m-dash (Nov 12, 2003)

Yep, F7 is the safest bet for saving your changes and exiting ANY settings screen. In WP6.0 and later, you can press Home, F7 to save and exit through several layers of menus at once, but I don't think this works in 5.1


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## JayTheHun (Jun 26, 2002)

Within WP for DOS, there is a Printer Setup area where you have to specify your printer. It'll be on LPT1 and most often you can use the generic Epson or HP driver, especially with those old standards-conforming Okidatas.


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