I have two printer set-up for kitchen and Drinks.
For specific tables, when i send mixed order of food and drink… my drink order is printed but my kitchen order does not print.
Note: above mentioned issue occurs some time but most of the time it works fine.
If it happens randomly it is better to focus on network or hardware issues.
Check print queue. If skipped prints remains in print queue it might be a network issue.
Once I’ve experienced issue with a printer that uses an old printer driver so it randomly skips prints. Maybe updating printer driver can solve that issue.
You can switch printers to test and if it starts skipping for bar items. It may also give an idea about the issue. Also if you have a spare printer you can test if it works fine or not.
It can particularly be higher chance of error if printer is shared from another computer and is not directly hooked in via Ethernet or wireless. It even further cuts reliability if different versions of windows are sending the print command.
You can do some things to tweak the performance reliability of USB shared printers… but to eliminate that bottleneck its best to just go with networked printers vs shared USB.
Alternatively you can purchase a USB Print Server device which are inexpensive and would improve reliability a lot. Something like this:
I used to have a good resource on tweaking shared USB printer reliability let me see if I can find the link…
EDIT: looks like my resource is not available anymore.
But the #1 thing to remember if sharing a printer via USB… if the computer it is hooked too loses network, becomes overused and does not have enough resources, or is powered down it will affect the prints.
When a send a print while network is disconnected it stays in windows printer queue and windows tries to print it when it comes back. However because of some poorly designed printer drivers they stuck on queue and never prints. As such disconnections happens randomly it is hard to detect.
@madiha I don’t know how your network configured but if it is a wireless connection you need to be sure wireless coverage is good.
I remember in one venue they installed a big aquarium between two concrete blocks and wireless connectivity strangely decreased. We changed router with a better quality device and it solved. I mean it may work perfectly when tested but anything can decrease wireless quality. Even people count or people sitting on specific places can decrease wireless connectivity.
i have server on win 7 pro set on the counter and i have 3 printers: receipt, bar and kitchen printer. receipt printer is set to the server.
the bar and kitchen printer is connected via star topology. Network cable from the server goes to router and from router to CPU in Kitchen. Win XP is installed On this PC And Kitchen and Bar Printer are connected on this system.
the server IP address is 104 and the ip for terminal point is 103.
Printing to shared USB with different versions of windows will cause problems. Windows XP is also likely part of the culpret with the driver issues it is no longer supported by Microsoft and I am willing to bet the driver for the printer is old as well.
Can you try Refreshing the IP address on the Windows XP system to see if its related to network connections issue?
Open the Command Prompt. You can do this from the Start button, going to Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt. Or, click “Run…” under the start menu, type “cmd” into the box, and hit enter
In the command prompt window, type “ipconfig” and press enter. Don’t include the quotation marks. This will show you your current IP address.
In the command prompt window, type “ipconfig /release” and press enter.Again, don’t include the quotations. Make sure you have a space between ipconfig and the forward slash.
In the command prompt window, type “ipconfig /renew” and press enter. You should now have a new IP address. To check it, you can type “ipconfig” again and press enter.
If your network includes PCs running Windows XP, it’s
important to use the same workgroup name for all of the PCs on your
network. This makes it possible for PCs running different Windows
operating systems to detect and access each other. Remember that the
default workgroup name isn't the same in all Windows operating systems.
Open System by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Search
(or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the
screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Search), entering System in the search box, tapping or clicking Settings, and then tapping or clicking System.
Under Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings, tap or click Change settings.
You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice.
In the System Properties dialog box, tap or click the Computer Name tab, and then tap or click Change.
In the Computer Name/Domain Changes dialog box, under Member of, tap or click Workgroup, and then do one of the following:To join an existing workgroup, enter the name of the workgroup that you want to join, and then tap or click OK.To create a new workgroup, enter the name of the workgroup that you want to create, and then tap or click OK.
If your PC was a member of a domain before
you joined the workgroup, it will be removed from the domain and your PC
account on that domain will be disabled.
Its crucial for mixing win7+winxp when sharing a USB printer. Even if refreshing the IP works. You will more than likely run into issues if you have not configured workgroups correctly.
Like it explained… if your workgroups are not configured correctly windows 7 may not see the printer on the XP machine.
YOu can eliminate this entire situation completely by using a USB print server like I showed you from amazon earlier in the thread.
