Canon iP-4000 Stops printing.

To all:

I own and have used a Canon iP-4000 for years and it's one of the most
inexpensive and best I've used, for the price and low operating cost.

However, now, suddenly, the printer stops printing about 30% into an 8
x 10 print and I get an Operator Error message (five flashes of the
amber lamp.)

The explanation of this error is: "Print head not installed or
installed incorrectly." Or, "EEPROM data of the printhead is faulty."

I can handle the first explanation easily enough because the 1/3 of a
page that prints is excellent quality--the printhead is obviously
working just fine. Ergo, it's installed---and correctly installed.

But the EEPROM data. . . is another story and I haven't the faintest
idea what it means.

I have uninstalled the printer driver and have downloaded and
installed the appropriate driver from Canon. No help.

It seems as if there may be some kind of timing issue here because the
printer stops at the same point regardless of the document printed.

My iP4000 is a very nice li'l printer that has served me well. I will
appreciate any input regarding how to resolve this issue because there
are many miles left on this printer and I hate to discard it.

Many thanks!

DaveinFLL

Pixmaker wrote:

To all:

I own and have used a Canon iP-4000 for years and it's one of the most
inexpensive and best I've used, for the price and low operating cost.

However, now, suddenly, the printer stops printing about 30% into an 8
x 10 print and I get an Operator Error message (five flashes of the
amber lamp.)

The explanation of this error is: "Print head not installed or
installed incorrectly." Or, "EEPROM data of the printhead is faulty."

I can handle the first explanation easily enough because the 1/3 of a
page that prints is excellent quality--the printhead is obviously
working just fine. Ergo, it's installed---and correctly installed.

Dave, EEPROM is programmable read-only memory which is electronically
erasable. This is in contrast to EPROM which has to be exposed to some
external erasing mechanism, usually ultraviolet light, in order to clear
the existing bits, after which it can be inserted it into a PROM burner
to be refreshed with the desired bit pattern, or just plain PROM, which
is burned once and forever holds its data unless death do us part.

Electronically Erasable PROM (or EEPROM) can generally be altered
without removing it from the device. The device into which it's
installed is capable, with the proper instruction sequence, of altering
the code stored in the PROM device.

It sounds to me like some kind of electronic anomaly, like perhaps a
voltage spike, might have scrogged the PROM, or the PROM just failed
from old age. It doesn't sound good. It's possible the manufacturer
can either reprogram it, or replace it with a new device, but that's
your call to make after you find out how much it's going to cost. It's
also possible that there is a reprogramming procedure that can be used
to instruct the printer to reprogram its own EEPROM. But you'll need
factory support for that also.

Sorry for the sour news...it's pretty much all I know about the subject,
so there may be hope yet from someone else with specialized knowledge
about your particular printer.

Jake


But the EEPROM data. . . is another story and I haven't the faintest
idea what it means.

I have uninstalled the printer driver and have downloaded and
installed the appropriate driver from Canon. No help.

It seems as if there may be some kind of timing issue here because the
printer stops at the same point regardless of the document printed.

My iP4000 is a very nice li'l printer that has served me well. I will
appreciate any input regarding how to resolve this issue because there
are many miles left on this printer and I hate to discard it.

Many thanks!

DaveinFLL

I own and have used a Canon iP-4000 for years and it's one of the most
inexpensive and best I've used, for the price and low operating cost.

However, now, suddenly, the printer stops printing about 30% into an 8
x 10 print and I get an Operator Error message (five flashes of the
amber lamp.)

Error messages are notoriously unreliable and often inaccurate.
Sure it is not a flow control problem?
Buffer fills up, data continues to be sent, buffer overflow.
Or buffer fills up, data flow stops, flow isn't restarted when
it should.