Win98-FM4.0v3 & New Printer Driver Problems

[ronpalmer2000]

Win98 FMP4.0v3

I have written several solutions using FMP 4.0v3 developer and they have worked perfectly for years both on networks and single user. Recently all the new printer and drivers cause FM4.0v3 to commit an illegal operation and is shut down (it is usually corrupted and has to be restored). I can substitute an existing printer driver in the Win98 database (example: HP4000 series laser printers using the HP5 driver - this will print perfectly). the problme is that I have hundreds of single users and everytime they buy a new printer, it becomes a problem.

Does anyone out there know what is happening and is there a possible fix.

Thanks, Ron

[RCamejo]

I am having the same problem on a network with NT. Company has all HP printers and FM doesn't seem to like the drivers. We keep getting access violation errors. I have already downgraded to older HP4 series drivers, but the problems still pop up on occasion. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[DykstrL]

There are 2 things I first check for in resolving printer issues with FileMaker.

1. Network printers: printer names longer than 31 characters - including the server name. This can cause FileMaker to crash on both Windows and Macs.

2. HP printers: ensure that the Graphics mode on the printer is set to Raster. HP printer set to HP-GL/2 (or Vector) can cause printers to print blank pages, print garbage, and on rare occasions, to crash FileMaker. If it is a network printer, it is relatively easy to fix. If it is a single user printer, unfortunately it requires a visit to the user's computer.