November 1995Almost Like An Old Friend...Print Error 21: An Error For Every PCTHE MOST COMMON error messages in the entire PC world may be the cryptic 20 Mem Overflow and 21 Print Overrun. Perhaps you know them? They are found with machines running MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and OS/2, and are most likely to occur when printing to the most popular lasers, especially the Hewlett Packard LaserJet III and 4. Both are related to the memory installed (or more precisely not installed) in the printer, and the method the printed page is assembled by the computer and printer. And interestingly, they have been perpetuated by some of the niftiest advances in LaserJet technology. Heres the deal. In HPGL/2 mode, the Hewlett Packard LaserJet III and 4 create images internally, which cuts down on data transfer to the printer and can therefore improve printing speed. Because HPGL/2 is vector based, it defines curves using a recursive algorithm which generates many short lines. Trying to print a simple circle in Microsoft Publisher running under either Windows or OS/2, for instance, can result in a LaserJet generating thousands of these lines, and sapping printer resources. Another advance of HPGL/2 is that it allows images to be composed at 600 dpi rather than the 300 dpi formerly attained by LaserJets. This produces noticeably better output in most cases, but requires four times as much memory to produce the same page at 300 dpi. So if youre hit by one of the twenty-something errors, Henna Gaijin described them in CorelDraw Journal, the first thing to do is to see whether you have Page Protection enabled on your printer (it should be accessible through the Windows Control Panel / Printers / Setup). If Page Protection is enabled, the printer will try to compose the entire page internally, which can lead to 20 Mem Overflow errors. If you disable Page Protection, the computer will help process the page for the printer, but if the computer cant supply the printer quickly enough (as is most likely to be true with large, memory intensive jobs), youll get a 21 Print Overrun error. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place! Here are a few more things you can try:
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