>Ed,
>
>Thanks for responding. By 'more or less' I meant that once in awhile the printer would operate very slowly - about one line in 30 seconds. Rebooting would set it straight so it was not a big problem.
>
>I'm real sure the cable is ok and I've also switch it with another. The ECP config might be the problem. How do I change it?
>

Start by going into the Windows Device Manager and deleting the entry for the parallel port. Then reboot the system and use the BIOS Setup routines to configure the parallel port - exactly how depends on the specifics of the BIOS. There's a screen somewhere in your BIOS setup that details how your peripherals are set up - if they're active, what ports, interrupts DMA channels and the like get used. In most of the BIOSes I'm familiar with, you can select the print port mode, with choices like standard, bi-directional, EPP, ECP and EPP+ECP. Change it to one of the settings that doesn't include ECP in the choice - I normally try to use one of the EPP modes (there are a couple of revisions; I'd try to use the highest-numbered option available, probably 1.9 or 1.7) EPP does not use a DMA channel, and can, if necessary, be configured to operate without using interrupts. Once you've changed the setting in the BIOS, allow Windows to restart - it should sense the parallel port and install a driver for it. Depending on what was on the system before, you may be asked for the Win9x installation CD so that new drivers can be copied onto your system.

>Oh, by the way, there's a typo in my message. I meant to say HP 820cxi not HP 620cxi.
>

Fortunately, I was talking in rather generic terms. I don't know the intimate details of the HP DeskJet printers. The suggestions I made would apply to pretty much any printer exhibiting this kind of problem, regardless of race, creed, color or sexual preference.

>Allen
>
>>>I have an HP 620cxi that worked more or less OK on a Dell P90 running Win95. I moved it to a Dell V333 Celeron running Win98 and I get a few lines of print, a lot of flickering of the Paper Out window in the background and then nothing. I tried upgrading the driver from the original v8.2 to v8.5 from HPs web site and it was no help. Any ideas?
>>>
>>
>>(1) What's more or less? Win98 does a better job of seeing problem than Win95, so if was flaky before, the change in operating system isn't going to help.
>>
>>(2) Have you checked the cable and port setup in the BIOS? Depending on your port settings, some of the pins of the parallel cable which didn't have any effect before may be needed now. Make certain that the cable carries all signals and is IEEE-compliant. Also, check the parallel port operating mode; while ECP offers potential advantages, some printers don't know how to operate properly with ECP-configured ports (Brother laser printers are one example I've encountered.) Try switching to EPP v1.9 or standard bidirection port mode (update the print port driver as well).
>>
>>>Thanks,
>>>Allen