FMS and printing issues

[superfletch]

Hi folks,

 

I work for a LA, and over the last few years we have always had occaisional problems where schools Cheque runs freeze or fail to start etc, however these are usually few and far between.

 

Within the last month we have had a large number of instances of this problem in different schools where the usual KB (35865) that resolves this either fails to help or only resolves the issue temporarily.

 

I was wondering if any other LA's or Support providers had noticed such a problem recently or if anyone was aware of any issue. Capita are understandanbly unable to test against the wide range of hardware available so they can't really comment.

 

Given that all the schools have been affected very recently I thought it might be a Microsoft update had knocked something out and felt you guys might be in the loop as to what the problem was.

 

It isn't an issue with the FMS upgrade as schools have reported it running different versions of FMS. The antivirus clients and printers in use seem to vary also.

 

Anyone know of anything or experiencing similar?

[pete]

Haven't seen anything here from my three FMS users and they're on XP SP3 with all Dec patches. They're printing to a HP 2400 though, nothing wierd or exotic.

[GREED]

We have this.

 

Capita say they are changing the way FMS prints to counter these issues, either released in Autumn or Spring Release.

[PhilNeal]

I don't think the printing changes that are coming will address the issue being raised here. If I recall the changes are to ensure that rather than each cheque being a separate task, the cheque run will be a single task.

 

I'm sure that you will have been through our desk to report the issue - if not then please do.

[GREED]

Phil

 

Apologies if I have read wrong, but the issue where cheque prints are missed etc should be fixed by this, as it will be one print run rather than individual ones, which is where, so I have been told, is where the problem lies.

 

Apologies I have just re-read the original post and I am talking rubbish!

[Sivadam]

Phil

 

..........

 

Apologies I have just re-read the original post and I am talking rubbish!

 

You Graham?

Nah I cannot believe that! Must be de-mob fever!

[GREED]

No to be honest I do talk a lot of rubbish most of the time!

[matt40k]

It's the lovely Delphi printing issue, isn't FMS going to be able to export to excel soon? Also why haven't they got a built-in export to PDF feature yet? They can export to PDF for fees in SIMS. Bah humbug.

[GREED]

2 words... change request? :D:D:D

[superfletch]

I'm sure that you will have been through our desk to report the issue - if not then please do.

 

 

Thanks Phil,

 

I did ask at the helpdesk but they were unable to help due to the diverse range of hardware that could potentially be affected, I was really asking them in order to see if anyone else had reported similar.

 

I've been collating information about the problem sites, the majority are using XP sp 3 with Brother HL-**** printers connected to the machines in differing ways. I think it is unlikely to be firmware related so I'm tempted to point the finger at Windows update.

 

Some are successfully running cheques when logged in as admin (which has happened historically too) and others not.

 

We'll sort it out, it's just giving me a bit of a headache at the moment.

[PhilNeal]

This could be related to another issue that has been reported - after running the latest MS security updates some people are reporting that Word printing is failing. MS have put up a known issue but the workround isn't great.

[PhilNeal]

We’re still working on this issue, all attempts so far at re-producing the problem have failed. (the 200+ windows updates required to get a ‘clean’ XP sp2 image up to scratch to mirror the schools setup took forever to apply, and then still worked fine...)

[GREED]

I know Phil Simon just told me the story of this... should work in my office for a day!!! lol

[AyatollahPies]

Thanks Phil,

 

I did ask at the helpdesk but they were unable to help due to the diverse range of hardware that could potentially be affected, I was really asking them in order to see if anyone else had reported similar.

 

I've been collating information about the problem sites, the majority are using XP sp 3 with Brother HL-**** printers connected to the machines in differing ways. I think it is unlikely to be firmware related so I'm tempted to point the finger at Windows update.

 

Some are successfully running cheques when logged in as admin (which has happened historically too) and others not.

 

We'll sort it out, it's just giving me a bit of a headache at the moment.

 

Please share your findings. I'd rather staple my eyelids together than deal with another Cheque printing problem.

 

Had the same response from the helpdesk. Doesn't help that the supportnet forums only go back a few months as this issue has been reported on there many times before.

[superfletch]

I'd rather staple my eyelids together than deal with another Cheque printing problem.

 

To be fair in the past the problem has always been down to a bust driver or a bad profile and represents a relatively easy fix. In honesty I hate cheque printing problems with the same level of passion as you.

 

So far I havent collated anything about Windows update which is where I suspect the problem to be, but almost all the printers (6 of 7) are Brothers, and a small number (2 of 7) are also affected when printing reports from SIMS net (well - SIMS ouputs to Word then it fails to Print).

 

In about half the cases logging on as administrator (machines on a workgroup) seems to resolve the problem.

 

Antivirus is very varied, McAfee, AVG, ClamWin and Sophos are all in play.

 

Connection to the printer varies, some USB, some Serial and some Network.

 

A straightforward reinstall of the driver rarely works outright, although sometimes fixes the problem for a couple of print runs.

 

I'm tempted to suggest all the schools to delete the printers outright, run windows update until there is nothing left to do, then add the printers again.

 

Anyone??

Edited December 16, 2009 by superfletch

[Tonyoung]

have you checked there are no comms packages loaded such as anycomms ? Source of all my cheque print problems.

[AyatollahPies]

have you checked there are no comms packages loaded such as anycomms ? Source of all my cheque print problems.

 

We used to think Anycomms was the guilty party, but alas, I have another FMS cheque printing fault today and Anycomms isn't running.

 

I want to go home.

[matt40k]

It isn't AnyComms.

[AyatollahPies]

It isn't AnyComms.

 

No, but many a time after running taskkill /f /im WinRCS32.exe, Cheques have suddenly started printing.

 

Not today though.

[Michael]

Connection to the printer varies, some USB, some Serial and some Network.

 

A straightforward reinstall of the driver rarely works outright, although sometimes fixes the problem for a couple of print runs.

 

I'm tempted to suggest all the schools to delete the printers outright, run windows update until there is nothing left to do, then add the printers again.

 

From reading this thread I'd be inclined to say the problem is most definitely software rather than hardware. Printing I presume works with other applications and due to the variety of hardware of use, the only consistency is FMS itself.

 

I agree deleting printers could be something to look at, but I would also go one step further. By downloading the 2003 Server Resource Kit there's a utility called Cleanspl.exe (Spooler Cleaner) which will restore the print spooler to its default configuration. I'd then proceed to locate and download the latest drivers (if available) as this too can make all the difference.

[matt40k]

I really fail how AnyComms can interfere with it. It doesn't use the printer "driver", it's written in VB6, rather then Delphi (like FMS), so it couldn't have dll hell. Anycomms doesn't put anything out of the anycomms folder, wise installer however, might. It only runs on the workstation and when the user runs it (unless it scheduled), the only time I have ever heard it of "interfering" with FMS was when it tried to sending something that FMS was using. Bah... sorry for the rant. I truely blame the fact it's not .NET yet.

[superfletch]

Very late reply to this one.

 

All the schools in our LA who reported this issue have now confirmed it no longer affects them, we believe it was down to an update of Adobe Reader although we are not certain.

[matt40k]

Printing to PDF then printing the PDF is the only 100% way. I've found changing PCL to PS, others have said doing it the other way helps. Also found it with HP when you have them connected via the network via a print server. Connect it straight to the pc rather then via a print server can sometimes help.