Hello, I'm thinking you may have an issue with data transfer, or possibly there are dip switches that may have gotten knocked around (don't know for sure if you have the switches or not, but I remember that a lot of older printers have them) It could possibly be getting a faster data rate than it can handle, because I think I remember that that was a serial printer? There are several speed settings you can set the printer for, and the IIgs may have a different bandwidth than what the printer is set for (ie the dip switches).
I hope this information may help you. -Matticus Roskopf "I may be young, but I work with old hardware" -----Original Message----- From: Compact Macs [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Nat Hall Sent: Monday, January 16, 2006 8:49 PM To: Compact Macs Subject: ImageWriter II quality question Hi folks, I have an ImageWriter II that's been in the family since it was bought new in 1988. I hope this is fair game for the list. I used to use it with my Mac Plus, purchased simultaneously in 1988. It's been in storage, and I recently got it out to use with my Apple IIgs. Please bear with me here as it'll take a few paragraphs to accurately explain the problem. Somewhere along the line, it has developed a problem where it occasionally skips a horizontal "scanline". This is manifested by what looks like very thin white horizontal streaks randomly throughout the printed page. These transverse the entire width of the paper, and are only one "pixel" high. This happens very randomly, sometimes it can print a whole page without a problem whereas the following page will have many of these anomalies. Printing text with a black ink ribbon, my first thought was that I needed a new ink ribbon. New ink ribbon installed = darker text, but the problem remains and is almost more apparent because the surrounding text is darker making for a bigger contrast. So my next thought was that there is something wrong with the tractor feed causing the feed to "overshoot" and advance the paper slightly farther than it should, randomly. That was until I stuck in a (brand new) color ribbon to print a banner from Print Shop. With a color ribbon, the problem is far worse. What actually appears to be happening is that the printer is OCCASIONALLY raising the ribbon higher than it should. Those of you who have experience with these printers know that magenta (red?) is below the yellow band on the printer ribbon. When printing an image that should have been solid yellow, instead of the missed streaks, I got random bands of red throughout. I am aware of the ribbon "height" adjuster, but I don't think this is an adjustment issue. Because, as I indicated earlier, the printer can go as much as a whole page without problems and just randomly spits these out at me. A red stripe in the middle of a yellow image is hard to miss, no matter how you look at it. I lubricated the hinges with machine oil that appear to pivot when the printer needs to change the ribbon height, but this had absolutely zero effect on the problem. Anyone else had this problem? What's the solution? I'd really like to restore this printer to perfect (wishful thinking?) working order again, since cosmetically, it's beautiful. -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>. Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:compact.macs@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com --------------------------------------------------------------- -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>. Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:compact.macs@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
