Printing too fast.

[Erik Saline]

I thought I would never have this problem with FMP 5.5.

We were recently running FMP 5.5 on a Mac OS Tiger eMac with 400 Mhz processor. The printing was real slow, to a HP Direct Jet then a thermal label maker. 10 Labels took minutes.

We upgraded the computer to an 1.9Ghz and 512MB Ram iMac. The printing speed has been cut in half. However the printing seems to be too fast. About 1 in 10 lables has garabge (blank or ?>>>>?>> on it). I have added 2 to 3 second pauses between labels in order to stop this.

This seems to slow down the printing enough to print correctly but slows the printing down. In addition it brings up screens that they should not see during the pause. I am not the best with freeze windows or tricks to lock the windows in place.

Is there something else I can do besides pauses to elminate the garabge and keep the speed. Does FMP 6 have this problem as well?

[SteveB]

I'm not a Mac user, so keep that in mind. It doesn't seem reasonable to me that printing labels should take any time at all, regardless of the speed of the processor. If you're losing part of your output, it would seem to be something to do with the printer, the print spooler, or the printer's memory, but definately not Filemaker.

Putting in pauses may correct the problem, but you're not solving the issue, you're only avoiding it. Have you tried re-installing the printer driver(s)?, removing and re-installing the printer's memory? adding more printer memory? Can you print a test page? Does it display properly and at the right speed. Does it's report of its memory agree with what you know? You could have corrupted fonts...try different ones. You could also try re-installing Filemaker, but I'd make this the last step if all else fails.

Hope this helps. Steve

[stanley]

Erik:

I faced this problem four or five years ago with FMP 5.5 running on Windows, printing to a Dymo 300 label printer. Sending a print job of more than 2 labels caused data to get skipped. To solve the problem, I divided the printing into individual print jobs, and I put a pause between each one. Printing became slower, but more reliable. I never bothered to look for a "better" solution.

-Stanley

[Erik Saline]

I have used the same driver, printer, and labelmaker. It all worked fine with no problems. Changing from a 400Mhz to a 1.9Ghz caused this problem. Yes it is processor speed.

[Erik Saline]

Thanks Stanley. Since the pauses do work I can live with it as well.