Trouble with Samsung SCX-8123 printer (not working)

Hey everyone, I purchased a Samsung SCX-8123 Printer about a year and a half ago for my business and had no problems until about a month ago. My computer was really old and slow so I upgraded to a new computer that had Windows 8 about a month ago. I'm pretty knowledgable about computers, used to build my own and usually setup a lot of stuff myself. Anyways, ever since I switched to this new PC I've been having problems. I have an protection policy through the vendor I bought it through but it only covers hardware and not software, therefore they are useless. In any case it should be as simple as installing the drivers and that's it.

I installed the drivers that were on the install disc that came with the printer. When I do this, the printer prints an error page about every 10 to 15 minutes saying:

PCL6 ERROR - Incomplete Session by time out
POSITION : 0x13ff9 (81913)
SYSTEM : ../XLPGP/os_hook
LINE : 3639
VERSION : PCL6 7.37.01 05-07-2012
ERROR CODE : 11-1312

I suspected that the version could be too old for Win 8 so I went on the site and installed a newer driver. At that point the endless printing of error sheets stopped but I kept getting an error at the top right saying the printer is in an error state every time I tried to print. I've managed to print a couple new things, but I'm stumped.

Lastly, Samsung website is terrible, the Windows 8 driver page was unavailable and now they changed it and you can download .gz files only which are not exe files. It's a pain to deal with.

I'm just wondering if I'm missing something I really need this printer to work and it's really frustrating. I'm pretty close to going and buying a copy of Win 7 and reinstalling everything.

I should also add that it's connected to a router. A couple weeks after the computer was installed I'm now remember we upgraded to AT&T Uverse from slow DSL. they added a router with built in wireless and thinking it could be a communication issue between printer and computer??? I don't know.

I previously had the printer connected to my own Cisco router as with DSL I didn't have an AT&T router. Now, I have two wireless routers and each has 4 ports. I tried switching the printer to the AT&T provided port but then it showed it was not connected so I put it back where it was.

I can't figure out if this is a driver issue or networking issue. Maybe I should just connect it via USB and forget about it. But then I can't print from laptop.

Sometimes it prints sometimes it doesn't I printed something about 30 min ago and the error messages kept printing out but then I shut down and restarted the printer and after being for about 5 min the 21 pages printed. It seems like the data transfer between the two is really slow. But this still shouldn't cause an error should it?

Thanks,
Mike
Mike FaronAsked:
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JohnBusiness Consultant (Owner)Commented:
You have posed many questions, so I will focus on a couple.

I should also add that it's connected to a router. <-- Connect it directly to your Windows 8.1 computer (even as a test) and determine if it prints properly. If it does (quickly, and reliably), then you have a good driver. If it does not, then you do not have a good driver.

If the driver is good, put it back on the network and give it a static IP on the internal network. This is important as it may be changing addresses. Then go to Ports in the Windows 8 printer driver and give it the address of the printer. Now test again.

What happens when you get this far?

I use HP networked printers for clients and they work just fine with Windows 8.1 (my own consulting machine).
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DansDadUKCommented:
>> ...  Incomplete Session by time out ...

Implying that the device has been waiting for further input, but received none within the configured 'timeout' period.

 
>> ... error at the top right saying the printer is in an error state ...

Perhaps also indicative of a failure to successfully connect to the device?


>> ... thinking it could be a communication issue between printer and computer?

Seems to fit the symptoms.
But take John Hurst's advice, and attempt to eliminate the printer or the driver as the cause.
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Mike FaronAuthor Commented:
Thank you for your responses. I had to leave town for the holidays and am back now. I will look into this later today and get back to you. That's the thing, I was trying to figure out how to eliminate the driver as the cause. Would it work if I connected it via a USB cable? Or would I have to reinstall the drivers using the "hard wired" configuration.
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JohnBusiness Consultant (Owner)Commented:
It is probably best to uninstall and reinstall if changing from USB to Ethernet.
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Mike FaronAuthor Commented:
I connected the printer directly to the computer via ethernet cable (just disconnected from the router). I still got an error and it will not print. I'm wondering if there is an issue with the Windows 8 drivers. Since I'm bypassing the router and new AT&T service, I think it could be the OS. I'm really not sure at this point.

Should I even connect it back to the router and set a static IP for the printer? How would I go about doing this?

Would there be a difference in connecting it via USB?
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JohnBusiness Consultant (Owner)Commented:
I don't think you can connect a printer directly to a computer by Ethernet. You might need a crossover cable for that.

My intent was to connect the printer to a Router. I do that with no problem.

As to setting a static IP, I normally do that at the Printer Console and look for the setup screens on the printer console.
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Mike FaronAuthor Commented:
Oh I see. The printer was originally connected to a router. I have a Linksys router I had it connected to.

The static IP of the printer (via the printer console) is 192.168.0.104

I'm searching but can't find a place where I can set the IP address in the Devices and Printers Screen for my printer. I right click on it and there are limited options.
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JohnBusiness Consultant (Owner)Commented:
If the printer has an IP address, then in Devices and Printers, right click on the Printer and select Printer Properties. In there is a Ports tab. You may have to add a TCP/IP port and connect it to the address above.
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