Printer problem

[Tommy Trussell]

On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 2:51 PM, Bernard G Hill <berni at zionundy.me.uk> wrote:
> I am using Ubuntu 8-10 and find that when printing to the HP Color
> laserjet 3505 via USB only one job will print. When that job is
> finished, it can be several pages of a document, the message 'the
> printer may not be connected' is displayed. To resume printing either
> the printer has to be switched off and then on again or the USB
> connector disconnected and then reconnected. This will allow one more
> job to be printed.
>
> Another problem, which may be related as it involves USB, is that the
> computer will not boot up but hangs if the external USB drive is
> connected and switched on. This is just a nuisance and only needs a
> check before booting but the printer problem is a bit more serious.

Are you connecting through a USB hub? If so, try removing it and
connecting directly. Is there any chance the cables are damaged or
defective?

Once you are sure of the physical connection, if your printing is
still a problem, try disconnecting the printer, deleting the printer
icon in the printer tool, waiting a minute, then reconnecting (and
turning on) the printer. When it's detected, watch very carefully and
be certain it chooses exactly the right model. If it doesn't display
the list of printer models and choose your exact model from the list.
Using a fresh configuration, try printing again.

As for the external drive, once you are sure of the physical
connection, you might check to see whether your computer's BIOS is set
to attempt to boot from a USB device. It's possible the drive has some
fragment of a boot loader on it and the computer is trying to boot,
but cannot. If it does, you can probably reorder the drives in your
BIOS boot options, or use the Partition Editor to find the errant
partition and remove the bootable flag and/or erase the partition. (Of
course you must back up all your data on the drive FIRST!!!)

Good luck..!