"Communication Error" message when trying to print after awaking computer from standby

Grey Knight,

There is no Power Management tab, just General, Driver, and Details...

I don't recognize that as an XP error message.  I wonder if that error is from the Canon software rather than from Windows itself?  If so you may be able to disable messages in the Canon software, or you may be able to remove the Canon program from the taskbar entirely with no loss of features.  Look down in the taskbar (by the clock) for any Canon or printer icons and right click them and check the options.  If it has an "exit" or "disable" option, try that and let the computer go to sleep & wake up and see if the error goes away.  To me it sounds like the canon printer software is reporting the loss of connectivity that occurred because of going to sleep.

Thanks.  There are no Canon or printer icons in the taskbar.  I've attached an image (on Word) of the message...

Thanks.  There are no Canon or printer icons in the taskbar.  I've attached an image (on Word) of the message...

I can at least tell you that's for sure a Canon error, not a Windows error.  The Canon software is misinterpreting the system going into standby as a communication error.

The particular feature is probably not needed in order to print.  Run MSCONFIG, choose Selective Startup, then click the Startup tab.  Uncheck anything in startup that appears to be related to the Canon printer.  Restart the computer and do a test of both printing and Standby / Wakeup.  (The Canon printer should still be able to print even if you turn off the Canon status monitor program which is causing the problem).

Simple Fix ==> don't use Standby Mode :-)

More detailed fix ...

The issue here is that the USB ports are being powered down when the system goes into standby, since the printer also goes into a sleep mode, the port isn't re-activated on return from standby.    Later OS's (Vista & Wndows 7) have more detailed power settings that would let you force the USB port to remain powered during standby;  but XP does not.   However, you MAY be able to resolve this by changing the power settings in your system's BIOS  ==> boot to the BIOS Setup screen and look around for the power settings.   In most cases you can select what actions the USB port will take during S3 (standby) mode ... and if you simply keep them enabled your printer should work fine.

This is not an unusual problem -- there are quite a few peripherals that don't "play well" with standby.    Many TV tuner cards don't support S3, and even some video cards.    But this specific case should be relatively easy to resolve as long as your BIOS has the appropriate power settings.
 

Thanks.  When I get to the Power Management window in BIOS, a window comes up with three lines:

Suspend mode [it's set to S3; toggling gives an S1 option]
AC Power Recovery [set to "off;" toggling gives "on" and "last" as options]
Low Power Mode [set to "disabled," toggling gives "enabled" as option]

Any ideas as to what I should do here?

Thanks.

Doesn't sound like you have any BIOS control over the USB power management.    Suspend mode should be S3;  AC Power Recovery should probably be left as is, but it depends on what you want the system to do after power is restored following a power loss;  and Low Power mode seems fine.

You MAY be able to resolve this by going to Device Manager;  expanding the USB section; and for each of the USB Root Hubs selecting Properties; then the Power Management tab; and unchecking the box that allows the computer to turn off power to the device to save power.    If this works, you only really need to select this for the specific connection being used by the printer -- but that may take some experimentation to isolate.

Remember the Canon printer software (that is reporting this error) is optional.  As long as the windows printer driver is installed the printer will still print and you'll be error free.  

Older HP printers used to do the same thing (report loss of connectivity even while they were connected) and the ultimate solution was always to just uninstall the optional HP software and just print using the Windows driver.

So if I uninstall the Canon software, I'll still be able to use the printer as I do now, but the connectivity messages - and the need to unplug and then replug in the USB cable for it to work - will go away?

Yes only the printer driver needs to remain installed so that the printer remains listed in Printers.  All the other Canon software that is loaded into Windows at startup is optional and removing it should eliminate the USB error message.  You may even be able to test this by going into Task Manager and clicking End Process and End Task on all the Canon tasks & processes.  Then put the computer into standby, wake it, should be no error generated.  If it works then you'll know that removing them from startup should solve it.

If for some reason this doesn't solve it, I would recommend picking up a new $29 printer this Friday when stores are basically giving them away.  For less than the price of new ink you could get a brand new printer, and most newer printers are way more tolerant of USB issues or at least make it easy to turn off the status monitor software.

The only other thing I can even think is maybe just maybe the USB cable itself could have something to do with this, but I doubt it.  I'm assuming you're not using a long USB cable over 12' or an extension.

If you unnstall the Canon software the printer will still work IF the driver is still installed.   If not, you'll need to add the printer -- but use the Windows dialogue and the Windows driver -- don't install the Canon package  [Select the printer from the list in the Add Printer dialogue].    Assuming this is indeed just a software issue that will resolve the problem.

I uninstalled the Canon software, but the Windows dialogue couldn't locate the driver on its own, so I downloaded the driver from Canon's website and then directed Windows to locate it on my computer and install it.  Unfortunately, that didn't change anything.  Next, I'll do what Gary recommended above, but let me add an additional piece of information that I just discovered:

When I choose PRINT, I see that the document to be printed initially appears in the print queue, but then, a few second later, at the same time I receive the Canon "communication error" message, the document to be printed vanishes from the queue.  This may or may not be of any help...

I went to the Device Manager, and saw that all of the USB Root Hub boxes that allow the computer to turn off power to the device to save power were already unchecked.

Maybe I'll connect the printer to my laptop and try changing the USB cable to see if the problem persists...

As I noted above, IF the error is just a "false postiive" in the Canon software, using the Windows driver will resolve this -- you need to choose the driver from the list in the Add Printer dialogue ... NOT use the Canon driver.    [Note that your printer may not be listed -- in which case you don't have much choice about which driver to use].     This is NOT the same as just letting Windows search for the driver -- you have to manually select it.

But if it's an actual communications error, that won't help either ==> you'll have to keep the USB port active ... which you can do as I noted above.

Did you end task / process on all the Canon stuff and test it?  It sounds like Canon software is still running if you're still getting a communication error message.

Maybe it's time for a new printer...

My local walmart flyer shows an HP Deskjet F2430 All-in-one printer with ink cartridges for $25.  Prints, scans, copies.  Perhaps it will behave better than your Canon.  Compatible with XP/Vista/7 & Mac OS X 10.4 & newer.

My apologies for my delay; I had an injury that has complicated things considerably.  I have taken all of the recommended steps but have been unable to resolve the issue.